


Memories

by coolangelsthesis



Series: Ficlet Collection [2]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, One Shot Collection, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 03:04:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 63,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2452397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolangelsthesis/pseuds/coolangelsthesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From Noiz's Summer Side Story: “These memories with you, we’ll make more in the future, right?”<br/>Listening to these words, I don’t know why I suddenly wanted to cry. It was a different sadness from grief, and to swallow this emotion I smiled.<br/>“Yeah. And after that, there’ll be so many you won’t even be able to remember.”</p><p>[A collection of one-shots of Noiz and Aoba's lives together.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> None of the chapters are in chronological order (though I may put them in order once I'm finished with this collection), just to help clarify.
> 
> A brief summary of each chapter. There are more details in the summary of each one-shot, but this gives a general overview about what each chapter covers:  
> Chapter 1 | **Welcome Home** \- smut  
>  Chapter 2 | **Difference in Taste** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 3 | **Surname** \- emotional hurt/comfort, fluff  
>  Chapter 4 | **I'm Such a Tease, You're Such a Flirt** \- smut, public sex  
>  Chapter 5 | **Touch** \- fluff, literally just fluff  
>  Chapter 6 | **Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits** \- fluff, mild angst, death... but rabbits!  
>  Chapter 7 | **Snow** \- fluff [part of a trade]  
>  Chapter 8 | **Aminals** \- parent!noiao  
>  Chapter 9 | **Dream of Me** \- smut  
>  Chapter 10 | **Brush it Off** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 11 | **10 P.M.** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 12 | **Change of Pace** \- smut  
>  Chapter 13 | **Relief** \- emotional hurt/comfort, smut  
>  Chapter 14 | **This Feeling** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 15 | **Closer** \- fluff, related to drama CD  
>  Chapter 16 | **"What sort of noise was that?"** \- smut  
>  Chapter 17 | **Only You** \- fluff, wedding  
>  Chapter 18 | **First of Firsts** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 19 | **Morning Indulgence** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 20 | **Reciprocation** \- smut  
>  Chapter 21 | **Coincidences** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 22 | **Miscommunication** \- angst  
>  Chapter 23 | **Slice of Love** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 24 | **Celebrations** \- fluff, mild smut  
>  Chapter 25 | **Restlessness** \- fluff, some h/c  
>  Chapter 26 | **Prost!** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 27| **I'll be there** \- fluff, angst  
>  Chapter 28 | **Taste of You** \- fluff  
>  Chapter 29 | **Mad About You** \- mild angst  
>  Chapter 30 | **Out in the Storm** \- fluff  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz comes back home from a week-long business trip. The obvious ensues-- and the unexpected happens.

“Hmm, right here? Really?” Noiz asked quizzically, murmuring against his lover’s lips as they parted from a passionate kiss.

He had spent the last week away in America on a company trip, and he knew fairly well that Aoba had been missing him the entire time—if the bombardment of messages from Aoba worrying if he was getting enough to eat or if he was getting enough rest between meetings wasn’t enough already.

They would talk every night via their Coils but that wasn’t enough. The both knew their _burned_ for one another. They heard it in each other’s raggedy breaths and saw it in the faltering gazes through their calls; Noiz had half a mind to comment about it once but resisted. Hardly.  
They had managed a week of being able to resist themselves, as Noiz begrudgingly had to share a hotel room with his brother.  
But now apparently Aoba couldn’t even wait the amount of time it would take to travel from the living room to their bedroom.

Noiz was forcefully pinned down onto the sofa, with Aoba’s hands on his shoulders, moving from legs merely draping across Noiz’s lap to straddling him, his face buried inside Noiz’s neck both to disguise his cheeks glowing beet red from taking the initiative and to muffle his deranged, lust-addled mumblings. With a soft tug of his hair Aoba forced Noiz’s neck backwards as so he could nip at the skin, suck on his Adam’s apple and leave delicate purple marks against his skin.  
Noiz’s eyes fluttered close with the sensation. He knew Aoba was trying to tease him -- but it just ended up feeling good instead. He missed how Aoba’s lips felt.  
Faintly Aoba ground his hips into Noiz’s groin, suppressing a satisfied sigh into the crook of his neck. Noiz chuckled.  
“Hah, this position seems pretty familiar, doesn’t it?” Noiz said with a shit-eating grin, peeling away to look into Aoba’s eyes. “Sucks there’s no nurses to walk in now, though.”  
Aoba grunted and looked away, face flushed and eyes glazed over with a feverish lust.  
“God… just… just shut up,” he mustered out, forcefully making him do so by meeting their lips once again.

Breaking apart for air, Aoba’s hands slipped inside the expensive fabric of Noiz’s shirt, dragging down the sensitive skin, knowing agonizingly well where Noiz was most sensitive, just as he knew with Aoba. He danced his fingertips down Noiz’s stomach, stomach lurching with desire at the soft groan left Noiz’s lips. He moved his hands then to Noiz’s side, up to his sensitive collarbones, repeating these languid, circular moments over and over again.  
“… Missed… you so… much…” Aoba muttered against Noiz’s collar, making the younger man gasp, then let out a sensual ‘mmm’ in reciprocation.

It was rare for Aoba to be the one who dragged the other along. Noiz was usually the one to pin the other down, drag Aoba out until he was writing and moaning beneath him—but he didn’t mind when the same was done to him from time to time. Aoba was cute when he was so caught up in lust that he lost his composure—well, all of Aoba was cute, but this Aoba was so _sexy_ Noiz could barely take it.

He had his hands settled on Aoba’s hips, only merely to allow him to comfortably rest in his lap; he refused to touch him more just to agonize Aoba and himself but now his self-control was slackening. He mimicked Aoba’s movements by dragging his hands along Aoba’s thighs, to his zipper and to the cotton beneath, making Aoba draw back from Noiz’s collar with a subdued moan.  
“I guess you really have missed me, you’re already hard,” Noiz said with a chuckle, still composed, squeezing hard on Aoba’s dick, which made the older man moan.  
“Ah… don’t... do that…” Aoba whispered hoarsely. His hands were settled on Noiz’s belt, struggling to undo the notch with the pleasure of Noiz’s teasing touch dulling his senses.  
“And why not? Don’t you like it when I touch you?”  
“It’s not that… I don’t… but…”  
“Heh. Playing hard to get?”  
Noiz slipped Aoba’s jeans and his underwear downward, exposing him. He slowly ran his hand down the length, his touch just light enough to tease.  
“It’s been a week since I’ve touched you,” he crooned into Aoba’s ear. “Didn’t you miss this?”

He knew the answer in the soft moan Aoba struggled to conceal between his lips, yet still, he longed to drag the answer out of Aoba. Time apart left the imagination to wander; he could do _that there_ and _this here_ , he speculated, and Aoba would be clutching onto him desperately, moaning underneath him and begging between raspy breaths for more.

Except… well… Aoba was on top of him now, and by the ferocity of how he pinned Noiz down there wasn’t much of a chance he would be willing to change positions. Noiz clicked his tongue along his front teeth, then rolled his tongue along his lower lip – which was damp with the taste of Aoba’s saliva – sweet, enticingly so, and faintly minty with his toothpaste. Laughing weakly, Noiz added just a faint bit more force into his grip around Aoba’s cock, making the man in his lap gasp with surprise.

“Hmm. Maybe next time I should bring you along with me if you’ve missed me _this_ much, huh?”

Aoba wasn’t able to reply, too caught up in the slow movement of Noiz’s hands to formulate words. In a feeble attempt to quiet himself he curled his lips inwards, biting his teeth down into the flesh. Wordlessly he peeled himself away from Noiz’s chest to wrangle his legs free from his jeans and to lift off his shirt, tossing them over his shoulder without a care. Then he was on Noiz again, quickly loosening his tie and slipping it off, then, one by one, undoing the buttons in Noiz’s shirt.

Noiz’s self-control slackened, and naturally his hand lapped upwards to trace the familiar curve of Aoba’s body. Up his hips, against the curve where curve of his ass met with his waist, up the concaves between his ribs—the skin tantalizingly soft and out of every sensation new to Noiz, the one he enjoyed the most. He ran his hands slowly up Aoba’s chest before resting in the middle, feeling Aoba’s heart beat rapidly with excitement, before dipping his head downwards to tease his tongue around Aoba’s nipples.

As he lapped at Aoba’s sensitive Noiz slipped off his shirt which Aoba had already unbuttoned, throwing it off his shoulders and onto the back of the touch. Without disrupting Aoba in his lap too much he tentatively undid his belt and slipped down his trousers; licking down to Aoba’s navel to make his back hitch to make the movement easier. Admittedly, Noiz’s dick had been, to some degree, hard since he landed in Germany less than an hour ago, and the faint noises emitted only hungered his desire more.

He moved Aoba closer until their dicks were touching. He moved his hand away from Aoba to squeeze both of their cocks together—which made Aoba gasp, then moan softly. Noiz sighed with pleasure as he felt him muscles start to relax, their combined pre-cum making his hand movements much more fluid.

He quickly grew bored of the movements, however—it was nice and had sent his body aching for more, but that was the problem. He craved _more_. With a quiet apology he hoisted Aoba out of his lap and back onto the couch.

“What are you doing?” Aoba mumbled dazedly, voice laden with confusion, already half gone from Noiz’s teasing. The lack of his sensation now made him feel numb, abandoned even. He watched Noiz’s naked frame disappear from sight, into the hallway to the front door. He heard a zipper and then Noiz calling out:  
“Getting something. I got a couple of things for you while I was away.”  
Aoba made a garbled stammering noise, nearly drawing him back to reality for a moment. From the tone in Noiz’s voice he knew _exactly_ what he meant by that—probably some weird geometrical vibrators or some frilly getup for Noiz’s pleasure. Instead Noiz returned with a small tube in his hands, making Aoba’s face twist up in surprise at something so docile, making Noiz chuckle.

“Oh don’t worry, there’s some other stuff, too. But that’s for later.”  
Aoba groaned. Of course there was.  
“What’s that, then?” Aoba asked, settling himself back in Noiz’s lap when he beckoned him back over, trying to scrutinize the bottle’s label when, he realized, the entire thing was in English and his English was less than up to par.  
“Lube, of course. It’s supposed to taste like strawberries.”  
Like Aoba could even be surprised by this point. All he did in reply was roll his eyes.

Smirking, Noiz undid the plastic around the cap, squeezed some on his fingers and rubbed it against his fingertips to warm it up. Then he shamelessly brought his hand up to his mouth and licked his index finger.  
It took him a moment, but then he recoiled at the taste and his face scrunched up with a look of disgust.  
“What the fuck sort of strawberries is that,” he muttered to himself with a scowl. Though thinking more with his dick than mind still, he moved his hand behind Aoba towards his ass. Noiz craned his neck upwards, muttering a quiet ‘here, try’ before, with his clean hand, setting it between Aoba’s shoulder blades to push him downwards.

At the same moment their lips met and Noiz gingerly pressed the tip of his finger into Aoba. In return Aoba let a soft moan out into Noiz’s mouth, the younger taking this opportunity then to lap his tongue around Aoba’s, sucking hard, kissing him feverishly, if not hungrily.  
Noiz’s mouth tasted sickly sweet and acidic—not entirely disgusting in its own right but knowing that the taste was from _lube_ made Aoba’s skin prickle with goose bumps. Breaking apart to gasp for air, Aoba instead let out suppressed moans as Noiz dug further and further in, slow, tender motions threatening to turn sporadic and needy at any moment.

To reciprocate, Aoba jerked off Noiz, moving his hand in sync with Noiz’s fingers moving in and out of him. Noiz breathed a sweet sigh into the whorls of Aoba’s ear, hissing with delight when Aoba would tug faintly at the piercings.

Noiz pressed a trail of kisses down from Aoba’s lips to his neck, sucking lovingly on his pallid skin, leaving swelling, reddish spots in his wake. Pulling his finger out of Aoba, after teasingly brushing against his prostate, Noiz slid back in with two fingers this time, laughing to himself at the loud moan Aoba was unable to muffle.

“Woo _ooow_ , you are accepting me… so easily… for not being with me for a whole week. So _sexy._ ”  
“You… nhh… aren’t… the only one who gets… desperate... ah… y-you perverted brat,” Aoba rasped between soft moans, gritting his teeth as he moved the hand wrung around Noiz’s neck downwards, dragging his nails along his back.

They kept up this coquettish game of cat-and-mouse until the other caved, slowly dragging the other closer to completion until one of them desperately begged for what they were both building up for. This time it was Noiz, hastily pulling his fingers out of Aoba and, in a guttural tone, muttering that he wanted to be in Aoba already into the whorls of his ear. Again their lips met, playfully nipping at one another.

Fucking _finally_ , Aoba thought to himself, giving Noiz one sharp, final jerk to position his cock, which made him gasp with surprise. Aoba then positioned his hips and slowly started to move downwards. The sensation of heat was still something Aoba could never get accustomed to, panting softly as it felt like he was burning up from the inside out—in the greatest way imaginable. Softly groaning against Noiz’s lips, he pulled himself downwards, buying Noiz deeper into him until they were one, inseparable.

“I’m… gonna… m-move… now,” Aoba breathed, starting to roll his hips up and down, with the movement feeling it all in just the briefest movements. He worked slowly to get his body accustomed to Noiz’s dick, but after movements so delicate and jerky Noiz was growing impatient—it was clear in the frown setting on his lips.

Decisively he grabbed Aoba’s hips, pounding forcefully into him once. Then again. And again. Mercilessly. His jerky movements caused Aoba’s skin to burn, to muffle his voice in Noiz’s shoulder—anything. He was accustomed to the pain and the stinging, but even more so the overwhelming pleasure underneath slowly building within the pit of his stomach. He knew he wasn't going to last very long, and nether would Noiz after not having sex for so long.

Aoba peered up to stare into Noiz. His eyed were drifted closed and his mouth was slightly open; he looked so enraptured in the moment, strained moans helplessly escaping his mouth. Aoba dug his nails in further into Noiz’s back as a token of affection; Noiz’s eyes opened briefly, flitting up to Aoba with a wild grin, reciprocating his ardor by focusing his movements solely on where Aoba felt it most. It was fruitless to try to stifle his moans now; he threw his head back, crying out shamelessly, as over and over again he was awash with overwhelming pleasure, numbing out any conceivable thought. All he could think or even mutter was Noiz. Noiz. Nothing but Noiz. _Noiz Noiz Noiz_ \--

“Aaahh-- Noiz… Noiz… I’m gonna—” he clasped a hand out, desperate, grabbing his own cock and quickly jerking himself off, so overstimulated it felt like his head was floating and his entire body was ready to give out. With just one more rub in the right spot, he would--  
“R-Right… th-there… ah... _aaah!_ ” Before he could think anymore, Noiz hit him just where he craved it, then all the pleasure pooling inside of him released, his body falling limp, everything turning to static behind the pleasure soaking in his hips, making his limbs numb and his head fuzzy.

He didn’t even notice when Noiz let out a pained noise—he was only drawn out of his hazy post-coital afterglow once realizing Noiz had stopped moving, but hadn’t come himself.  
Aoba opened his eyes slowly… and gasped at what he saw.

Noiz had one hand clasped around his eye, and Aoba’s semen was dripping down the side of exposed cheek and along Noiz’s chest.  
… _Shit._  
Aoba had accidentally cum _in Noiz’s face_ and it landed in his eye, no less. Aoba’s cheeks, which were already flushed burned even redder. Desperately fumbling over his words, he tried to reach out, grabbing Noiz’s arm, saying hasty “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so damn sorry” before he heard Noiz snicker.  
What started off as a soft snicker quickly burst out into a fit of laughter that made his exposed ribcage shake up and down in his chest. He laughed until he was in near-hysterics, until tears welled in his eyes, streaming downwards, mixing with the bodily fluids on his face.

“Ao… ba… you… _idiot_!” he croaked between gasps, trying to find his breath. He lugged an awkwardly staring Aoba into his arms, burying his face into Aoba’s chest as his laughter, slowly, died down.

This situation was so weird—so fucking weird. He had just got cum in his boyfriend’s eye and now this kid was crying with laughter. His mouth tasted like acidic strawberries and Noiz's saliva. Aoba had never seen Noiz, in the some-odd year they’ve lived in Germany together, laugh like this. He only cried with laughter one other time when Aoba tickled him mercilessly. It was… _so ridiculously cute._  
But, despite all this… Noiz was still inside him, and he hadn’t cum yet; in fact, Aoba could feel him starting to soften.

Aoba cupped his hands around Noiz’s cheeks and pushed him backwards a little, tutting, wiping his cheeks in vain to clean him up. The white of left eye was a vile, bright red and his eyelids were drooped partially over his eyes with exhaustion. He was grinning dazedly up at Aoba, breathing hoarse as though he may break out into laughter at any moment again.

Aoba sighed and pressed a kiss against Noiz’s lips. It was bitter with his own semen, but he has been long desensitized to the taste by now. He gingerly brushed his palm against the puffy skin of Noiz’s eye to relax the skin. He pressed their foreheads together.

“Does it hurt?” he asked quietly, pressing a little harder with his thumb on the damp skin near his eye.  
“Just… a little,” Noiz replied, slipping his hands away from Aoba’s waist, mimicking Aoba’s movements by cupping his hands around his cheeks, as well. He sighed softly with a lingering note of exhaustion. “At most it caught me off guard, though. And I still haven’t…”  
“Yeah, yeah, Noiz, I know.”  
“Well…”  
“Want me to take care of it for you?”

Noiz _actually hesitated_. Aoba wasn’t expecting that. The younger man cast his gaze downward as a faint humming noise escaped from his throat-- the telltale sign he was contemplating.  
After a moment Noiz merely shrugged, lifting his gaze back to Aoba, brilliant green eyes warmed with love.

“Nah.”  
Aoba nearly choked on his breath. “W… What, really?!”  
“Yeah. I can give you an hour and you’ll be ready again, won’t you? Besides…”

His voice dropped down to the low, husky tone he always used when toying with Aoba:  
“I want to show you all the other things I got you.”

Aoba stammered with embarrassment and smacked Noiz upside the head.  
“P-perverted brat…” he muttered aloud, pulling Noiz out of him and peeling himself away from Noiz. His body ached and stung. A week after not having Noiz’s hands on him had made his body keenly over-sensitive. A long bath would suffice. God knows Noiz would beg to follow after him-- so let him.

“Oh! I nearly forgot to tell you, Noiz,” Aoba said, turning on his heel, as he headed for the bathroom. Noiz was beginning to pick up their discarded clothes off the floor. It was kind of adorable when he was doing it completely naked like that. Noiz perked an eyebrow, gaze expectantly raising towards his boyfriend. Aoba grinned.  
“ _Wilkommen zuhause_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Wilkommen zuhause" = Welcome Home
> 
> lmao this is my first time writing actual smut so ..... i hope it's okay, haha


	2. Difference in Taste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Aoba bicker over their differing tastes in music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self-beta'd, all mistakes are my own.

Aoba stepped into the apartment, clutching a small package close to his chest. He was beaming in pride, so encapsulated in his own little bubble that he didn’t even notice Noiz was turned around on the sofa, staring at him with a contemplative scowl on his face with his brows furrowed.

Noiz sat up a little, craning his neck outwards to catch a better glimpse of the thin, square package in Aoba’s hands.  
“What’s that?” he asked, pulling Aoba out of his trance-like state.  
Meeting Aoba’s gaze, he smirked knowingly.  
“Oh… is that something for _later tonight_?”

“What… n-no, you idiot!” Aoba retorted with a huff, snaking off his shoes and discarding the rest of their mail on a glass table. “It’s something I’ve been wanting for a while, actually—look!”  
As Aoba spoke he was tearing eagerly at the indicated perforated lines in the package, telling where to easily remove the contents from the box. Tossing the cardboard to the side, he triumphantly presented out a CD, offering Noiz an elated look before turning his attention back to it.

“It’s Goatbed’s new CD! I preordered it and everything—I didn’t expect here to get this early, though. How—Noiz, are you even listening to me?”  
He glanced up to look at his boyfriend, who was obviously uninterested by his lover’s words but watching him still in earnest, finding it endearing whenever Aoba got so elated over such trivial things.

Giving Aoba the theatrical disdain he knew that Aoba craved from him, he rolled his eyes and languidly got up from the couch, taking the CD from Aoba’s hands to scan the tracks on the back, his lips pursed. He let out a soft hum as he gave it back to him, not without a brief kiss on his cheek first.

“You could have just bought it online, you know. You could have immediately had it on your Coil instead.”  
“Yeah, that’s true… but CDs are different! It’s _so_ much better than having just the MP3’s.”  
“Yeah, but you can barely use them anymore. Most stereos work directly with Coils.”  
“It’s not just about that, idiot. It’s about sentiment, too.”  
“Oh really?”

It was customary for them to get into brief arguments, neither one trying to outsmart the other but mere bickering, as lovers do.  
Even out of the bedroom Noiz loved to tease Aoba and loved it even more when he would gawk or fight back. Sighing peacefully, he ran a hand through Aoba’s ponytail, playfully teasing the long blue tendrils, before returning back to the couch, gesturing Aoba over with a curl of his finger. He obliged, letting Noiz settle his feet in his lap as they relaxed.

“That’s the only thing I could never understand about Japan. You guys still use CDs when the rest of the world has stopped using them so much. What’s up with that?”  
Aoba pursed his lips, trying to conjecture some argument but fell short. He shrugged.  
“I have no idea. It just stuck, I guess? Don’t ask me.”

Aoba shifted further into the couch with a yawn. Noiz wrinkled his nose and nudged with his foot at the CD resting in Aoba’s lap beside his feet.  
“Ugh, and why _Goatbed?_ You—”  
“Oh, don’t you _even dare to say anything about them,_ Noiz. I _will_ kick your ass.”  
“Hmm. I think it’s cute when you get mad, you know,” Noiz quipped, helplessly grinning.  
“Yeah, w-well… I don’t make fun of the shit you listen to!”  
“Because you’ve never really asked.”

… That was true. He had only been living with Noiz in Germany for around 3 months now and they never had the time to properly relax. They were in a constant state of fretting around, eagerly moving Aoba in and accommodating him to life in Germany. In what time they weren’t both working at Noiz’s brother’s side, they worked on his German, or explored the city, or—of course—were busy in bedroom endeavors.  
Aoba really hadn’t had the time to find out every minute detail about Noiz—which troubled him, because he desired to know everything about Noiz more than anything. Of the things he had discovered were tiny quirks in his personality, like that Noiz prefers to sleep on his stomach and required several sheets of blankets because his body was still hyper-sensitive to heat and cold; he also used his toothpaste by starting from the bottom up, and he hummed softly when he showered.  
Aoba also discovered that Noiz was very taciturn whenever Aoba asked him questions about himself. He would always offer brief, one-line answers and then veer the conversation away.  
So when Aoba asked what music he liked while Noiz was coped up in the hospital in Midorijima, all he got in reply was a cold -- “Electronic, duh” -- and Noiz then dropping the conversation flat by leaning over to meet their lips in a kiss.

Aoba clicked his tongue, stubbornly always one up for a challenge.  
“Fine, then, play me some of your music, since you _clearly_ have the superior tastes.”  
“Gladly,” Noiz replied smoothly, accentuating his point by pressing his heel further into Aoba’s crotch, making the other man jerk with surprise, glower, then push him away. Chuckling, he started up his Coil, flipped through the different tabs until he found his music.

With a mere press of a button a slim, but rather expensive looking, stereo emerged from the wall above their television. The first day Aoba arrived in Germany, Noiz eagerly demonstrated all the unnecessary gadgets he installed, making Aoba roll his eyes. They didn’t need any of this, but the jejune joy that glimmered in Noiz’s eyes in such petty things made Aoba chuckle.  
Noiz gave a look with a raised brow, then, a couple seconds later soft electronic beats wavered from the stereo. It wasn’t tolerable, at least—Aoba quite liked electronic music. But as the monotonous track droned on and on it got less and less tolerable, migraine inducing, even as the layers warped one after another after another.

“Alright—that’s enough. Play something else,” Aoba said, grabbing Noiz’s wrist and stopping the music— _thank god._ Noiz looked visibly hurt almost, lips pulled in a taut scowl. He really was adorable when he acted his age.   
“You really didn’t like it that much?” he said, making the feigned hurt intentionally obvious on his tongue now.   
“It was alright, but it just kept _going and going and going_ , it got boring and made my head hurt. Sorry.”  
Noiz peered up at him and offered a shrug and a meek grin. He was busy working away on his Coil, but turned his body away so Aoba couldn’t see what he was doing.   
“It’s whatever. What about something more like… this?”

Aoba prepared himself for the worst, shoulders even hitching in anticipation.   
So he was very pleasantly surprised when he heard the music from the stereo none other than the latest single from Goatbed’s new album. Noiz peered up at him, smiling softly, without the note of competitive drive from before. Instead it was encased in pure love—a look on his otherwise cold exterior that showed just how young he was.   
“This is better, right?” he asked softly.  
“Yeah, but you don’t like them at all, so why—”

Noiz sighed, rolled his eyes, and scrambled over to the other side of the couch where Aoba was. He pulled the older man down with him on the couch, pulling him down to rest on his chest as he lied with his back against the cushions. Aoba tried to make a game of resisting, but quickly let his fight leave, letting himself instead lean into Noiz’s sent and his warmth.

“I still don’t really get why you like them so much,” Noiz continued softly, moving a hand away from Aoba’s waist to tuck a strand of hair away from his face. “But if you do like them, well... I guess they can’t be all that bad. This song is pretty bad though.”  
Aoba scoffed and rolled his eyed. He brushed the tip of his nose against Noiz’s.   
“You just had to go and ruin a nice moment, didn’t you?”  
“Hm, did I?”  
“Tch… brat.”

Aoba leaned forward and pressed their lips together in a tender kiss. They would always be two different people with two different preferences, but it was always sweet to hear that Noiz would accommodate to make Aoba happy too.  
In part, he would try to make Noiz as happy as he could. He spent far too long alone and spent far too long bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders to not deserve a reprieve, to live in solidarity and placidity. No matter what the brat wanted, he would be happy to oblige.

And, perhaps, they were more similar than they gave themselves credit for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were curious I was thinking Noiz would be playing: [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dHC7qQrJJw). (it's totally 100% canon to me that Noiz listens to German electronic music, sorry I don't make the rules.)  
> While we are on the subject, whenever I listen to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5abruK4N86o) I can't think of anything but Noiz and Aoba hahaha
> 
> this ficlet is SO LAME i know, i just kind of gave up at the end, ha. i'm in the middle of setting up a really angsty fic for them, so I quickly wrote this to cheer myself up


	3. Surname

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz wants to change his last name to Aoba's when they get married. Pretty self explanatory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a prelude of sorts to a full length Noiao wedding fic I want to write soon-- (because everyone and and their mother's have wrote/made art for it-- and who _doesn't_ enjoy hopping on the bandwagon?). Or better yet, I have it all put together... I just need to write it. SIGH.
> 
> I really appreciate all of you who have been reading my fics, it means sooo much to me. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

The words still stung in his ears.  
He had been expecting them for months, but that didn’t make their pain hurt any worse than it did. He had been reciting them over and over to himself, as though the gesture would aleviate their sting.  
But hearing them out loud in the open still hurt. It left some foreign area of his heart left mangled and raw and he couldn’t explain why.

Even if Noiz’s younger brother had become the head of their family business, their parents still bobbed to and fro in business affairs—PR business, mostly, in order to uphold their reputation. Part of Noiz wondered if it was because of him, that some nosy journalist could catch word that the CEO’s brother—and Vice President of the company—had spent several years in Japan as a gang leader, and could easily make their stocks plummet. An even smaller part of him wondered if they kept up this business out of love. But Noiz wasn’t stupid, and that was just wishful thinking.

Noiz hadn’t even planned to tell his parents he was engaged, even keeping his ring at home on days when they planned to be in the office—much to Aoba’s chagrin. He was waiting for the right moment, when his mother’s gaze would soften and open up to him, or when his father was placid and tipsy. But it never came.

So when Noiz was sorting through his notes after an important meeting and he felt his father’s looming gaze, he was prepared he knew something. His cold line of vision, sharing the same striking eye color as both of his sons, never even faltered. He just sighed pitifully, and offered an emotionless “We are not coming to your wedding” before heading for Noiz’s younger brother’s office.

The words felt heavy in his stomach.

Noiz slinked into his apartment unceremoniously. The air was quiet, eerily so.  
He slunk off his tie without the same attention to detail as he normally would, even in the throes of passion—he limply slipped it off from around his neck and discarded by rolling it up into a ball and tossing it aside with a sigh. It was a tie his mother had given him as a consolation prize of sorts, some petty attempt at retribution after alienating him for all of his childhood. Some fucking gift.  
“Aoba?” he said, rapping his knuckles against the drywall to try to get Aoba’s attention from the living room or kitchen, if he was there. Nothing.  
Weakly he called out his fiancé’s name again, the apartment welcoming nothing but silence in return.

He wanted to deny it, but he felt an inevitable lump well in the back of his throat. Logically, he knew that Aoba would never leave him, because even if he dealt with all his juvenile behavior he needed him as much as he needed Aoba. He _knew_ that, but still the cancerous thought of Aoba hating him, of getting so tired of his antics that he would leave without a word nabbed at his brain. They were a month away from their planned wedding, and they were both under a heightened amount of stress finishing up the remaining pieces of the ceremony— it wasn’t out of the question for Aoba to suddenly get cold feet and back away.  
Perhaps, even, he wanted give Noiz a taste of his own medicine, live merrily and lovingly beside him, then leave as soon as he was certain Aoba was his and his alone.  
But Noiz knew he was being ridiculous. Or… he wanted to believe he was being ridiculous.

Noiz sighed and trekked the long stretch of hallway from their living room to their master bedroom, stopping for a moment to admire a wall of portraits of the two of them—mostly from their various trips around the world, or their domestic life wandering the streets of Munich.  
The most prominent image, placed in the largest frame, centered with the other, smaller photos hanging around it, was one of Noiz grinning, kneeling in front of a shocked Aoba, take in the lush gardens the Eiffel Tower loomed over in the heart of Paris; the warm sunset casted over them a romantic, orange glow.

Noiz had insisted that for their vacation last summer that Aoba could choose wherever he wanted to go—except Noiz kept dropping not-so-subtle hints that he wanted to visit Paris. Noiz swore it was a blessing how blissfully oblivious Aoba could be at times, completely badgering off Noiz pampering him with lavish dinners and romance as Noiz _over-doing_ it, as usual. And maybe he had… just a little.  
But since it was Aoba, any and every little expense was worth it.  
And when his eyes lit up with surprise and such love after he asked him _Will you marry me?_ , he knew that anything— _everything_ —was worth it for that moment.

Noiz straightened the photo frame, letting his fingers drag along its glass surface tenderly before walking away.

He opened the door slowly, anticipating what he would find inside. Would it be empty? Would Aoba be there, waiting for him— _beckoning_ for him? A shiver went all the way down to his groin at the thought, biting his lower lip with a grunt as he pushed the door open further.

Noiz sighed with relief when he found Aoba nestled inside the deep, wine red covers of their large bed. His side rose and fell slowly as he was sleeping. His back was turned away from the door and his hair, still appearing slightly damp, spread across the duvet—the bright blue stark and gorgeous against the red backdrop. Slowly Noiz moved forward, perching himself on the end of the bed, careful not to rouse Aoba or Ren, who was curled up in Aoba’s arms in sleep mode.

“Aoba,” he called out tenderly, pushing away some of the duvet to rest his hand between Aoba’s shoulder blades.  
“Hmmm?” Aoba replied with a groan, slowly peeling his head away from the thicket of pillows, opening one eye, adjusting to the dim light. His brows arched upwards in surprise, cupping a hand over his mouth to stifle a yawn.  
“N… Noiz. What… are you doing home so early? Everything okay?”  
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he replied off-handedly, though a sharp bristling of his fingertips against Aoba’s skin said otherwise. His body betrayed him, ready to give in and cry right now. Sensing this, Aoba sat up in bed, grabbing Noiz’s hand as it fell from his back, clasping his palm tightly in his own.  
“Okay, really, what’s wrong?”  
“Like I said, it’s nothing.”  
“Don’t give me that, Noiz. Come _on_ —”

Suddenly Noiz lunged forward and swiftly lugged Aoba into an embrace. His grip was hard, crushing almost, as he struggled to reign in his tears. He nestled his cheek against Aoba’s neck, drinking in his scent—soft, floral, like his shampoo, and sweet with aromatic spices from the cologne he had bought him as a gift. Just holding Aoba like this made his anxieties wash away—if just a little. It gave him a brief moment of reprieve to still his aching mind.  
Aoba knew Noiz was more open to expressing himself in touch and embraces more than actual words. Knowing that all Noiz needed right now was to _feel_ Aoba he hugged him back without a word, craning his neck to press a kiss to Noiz’s hair.

After a good couple of minutes, Noiz muttered something into Aoba’s hair; however, he said it so quietly Aoba could barely hear him. Breaking away, Aoba peered down at the face nestled against his collarbone.  
“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”  
“… I want to take your surname.”

Like gears clinking around in his head, everything started to make sense. He didn’t know exactly why, per se, but Aoba could clearly sense Noiz’s parents had done something else to sever the thin string of trust between them. But the weight and the passion behind Noiz’s words left him nearly breathless. He furrowed his brows while pulling away a little to get a better view of Noiz’s face.  
“Are you sure, Noiz?” he asked gently, with no intention to belittle him or demean him. “That’s a lot, you know… you _really_ want to take my last name?”  
“Yes. Yes, Aoba. I can’t… _stand_ being associated with my parents any longer. I just can’t, Aoba… I _can’t_... s-shit...”

He cursed under his breath as hot tears began to fall from his eyes. He clenched his teeth together to stop himself from crying before it started, but doing so only made tears fall faster with the pressure and pain building up in his teeth. Shamefully he buried his head inside the crook of Aoba’s shoulder, pulling the both of them downwards against the bed as he sobbed loudly.

Aoba was stunned at first, unsure of what to do. He knew there was no reason or purpose to ask him what had happened; if anything, knowing probably would have made him cry, too. So instead, moving tentatively, he raked his hands through Noiz’s short hair, caressing his skull down to his back, making slow, comforting movements with his palm as the younger man jerked and heaved, choking on his gasps until he couldn’t sob anymore.

Aoba kept reassuring him as he murmured, _it’s okay, it’s okay_ repeatedly, until Noiz was completely spent from sobbing. He was still breathless, struggling to regain his breath with short, sporadic gasps of air.

As he sobered up, he slipped downward from Aoba’s neck-- the hem of his t-shirt absolutely soaked with saline tears. He rested his head against Aoba’s chest, listening to the soft drum of his heartbeat.  
“I’m sorry, Aoba,” he croaked weakly.  
Aoba laughed softly and brushed his hands through his hair again. “Don’t be sorry.”  
Slowly his breathing became less haggard and a wave of pleasant exhaustion overcame his toil and sorrow. He traced faint, slow circles in the hollows between Aoba’s ribs, smiling softly as he looked up to his face.

“Why were you sleeping, anyway?” Noiz pondered after a couple minutes of comfortable silence, lifting his head up to meet Aoba’s eyes, his voice rougher from crying so hard. His cheeks were flushed red with the strain of crying, and his eyes were equally red with the skin around his eyes inflamed. Noiz had never openly sobbed in front of Aoba like this, save for when he proposed, but he was crying equally as much so he couldn’t savor how meek he looked after crying.  
Not wanting to seem weak for falling head over heels at such a raw glimpse of Noiz, Aoba replied with a click of his tongue while turning his head away.  
“You know why! Keeping me up so late last night, dammit.”  
“Hmm… but you didn’t seem to mind it at the time.”  
“Y-You—of course I didn’t!”  
Noiz leaned in to press a kiss to Aoba’s temple, grinning as he peeled back.  
“So don’t complain. In fact, you look really cute when you nap. Should do it more often.”  
Immediately losing his will to play-fight, Aoba sighed softly. He reached out, cupping his hand around the exposed nape of Noiz’s neck, fingers massaging the knob jutting out of his skin where his spine met his skull. Craning his head to the side, he studied Noiz’s complexion—the younger man staring back in confusion as he did—before breaking into a grin of his own.

“Seragaki Noiz… that has a nice sound to it. I like it.”  
“It would be Noiz Seragaki in Germany, you know.”  
“Still sounds good, either way.”

Suddenly reaching upwards, he wound his arms around Noiz’s torso and pulled him downwards with more strength than his lithe body would have proven otherwise. He laughed as Noiz gasped with surprise, taken completely off guard. Noiz laughed alongside as he affectionately ruffled up Aoba’s hair.

“Soon people will be calling me Mr. Seragaki… hmm, that’s _hot,_ ” he crooned with a sensual grin. He dipped in to kiss Aoba again but the older man turned his head away, squirming away from.  
“Nuh-uh, not tonight. Nope,” Aoba quipped, shaking his head. “You’re learning your lesson for what you did last night. My wrists still hurt from how tight you bound them.”  
“But, _Aoba_ —”  
“I said nope! If you want it, do it for yourself.”  
“… Fine. Want me turned towards you or away from you?”  
The entirety of Aoba’s skin flushed a deep, beet red. He picked up his pillow and smacked Noiz upside the head. “Y… You… _pervert_! You have no shame!”  
In retort, Noiz grabbed his own pillow. They took turns hitting one another, calling each other petty names, and laughing until they were both reeling on their sides with their chests heaving, laughing idly and eyelids heavy with exhaustion.

 _Yeah_ , Noiz thought to himself, leaning over to brush Aoba’s hair out of his face. _I can’t wait to make him my husband._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do i have such a thing for noiz's shitty parents making him cry i just..... i don't know...... /glances @ own parent issues


	4. I'm Such a Tease, You're Such a Flirt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Aoba get drunk at a restaurant. With the two of them sitting upon unsatiated sexual tension and their sense of judgement entirely gone, the obvious ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I would just like to say thank you for reading these one-shots. I never really wrote fanfic before this so I'm pretty new to it still. It's always been hard for me to wean into big projects--which I have two noiao fics planned out right now which will probably be pretty big--so writing these one-shots really helps. I'm so glad they've been well-received! I really appreciate all the kudos and comments, they make my day. <3
> 
> If you have any suggestions for other one-shots, I'm all ears.

“You look absolutely gorgeous tonight,” Noiz crooned, forming a bridge with his hands and setting his chin to rest atop his fingers. By reflex—like Noiz knew he would—Aoba’s cheeks flared red and he averted his gaze with flushed embarrassment.   
“Shut… up… it’s only ‘cause you asked me to wear this suit,” Aoba quipped between his teeth, his words faintly slurred. Between the two of them already they had almost finished off a bottle of wine within an hour. Aoba was a notorious lightweight and had only had two or three glasses, unsurprisingly, he was already very drunk; it took Noiz a bit more alcohol to loosen up, but he was around the same as Aoba, lingering between the state of tipsy and pleasantly intoxicated. Noiz laughed softly and grinned, leaning in closer to murmur.  
“I must have good taste then, hmm? The gold with the grey of the suit _really_ brings out your eyes, Aoba… wow.”  
“God… you… s-stop,” Aoba complained, burying his burning hot face in his hands.  
He hated how Noiz could compliment him to eloquently in public without even stammering or a moment of hesitation. It was so overwhelming at times all Aoba could do was close his eyes and pretend to not hear Noiz preening about how tight his ass looked in his pants, or how great Aoba’s neck looked when it was exposed, or—and this was the one that always made Aoba’s knees buckle—tell him how beautiful Aoba’s grin was, how it could radiate a room.  
At least the boy had some sense of reasoning, Aoba thought to himself; he would spill out his compliments in Japanese rather than in German in order to keep their conversations private. If they sauntered the streets of Munich with Noiz publically recounting all the different positions he wanted to try that night in graphic detail, people would stop and stare at them in horror.  
Still, it was so much for Aoba to take in; he didn’t know how to keep up. Noiz was both so perverted and so _romantic_ at the most inappropriate times. It was obnoxious.

Now Noiz’s teasing certainly wasn’t helping things, either. They were both on edge, distinct by the tension that pierced the air. They had gone two weeks of not having any proper sex.  
Noiz had been spending several days late at work finishing a project that involved updating the security on the business’ servers. Most mornings they barely had the time jump into the shower before they both were scrambling to go to work.  
Aoba would have wanted to stay late to help Noiz with whatever he needed in order to finish the project, but whenever he mentioned it Noiz narrowed his eyes at him with an annoyed scowl. No, he would say, this is something that he had to do alone. Aoba, despairingly, understood what Noiz was trying to say in his terribly phrased words: he needed to finish the project by himself to show that he is capable enough to his parents.

And due to their hectic schedule, their sex life had been kept on the back burner, to both of their disdain. By the time Noiz would arrive home—10:00 usually, or even sometimes later—Noiz would be too exhausted to do anything other than flop into bed and Aoba would have already satiated himself the hours of alone time he had.   
But constantly, an unbridled tension between them lingered. Touches stretched out a couple seconds longer than they needed to when Aoba gave Noiz important documents, gazes wandered from across the hallway from Aoba’s secretary desk to Noiz’s office. Aoba had half the mind to barge into Noiz’s office, lock the door, and beg for Noiz to fuck him, but that was dangerous. Too dangerous.

So when Noiz sauntered out of his office with an uncharacteristic look of pride, and when he loomed over Aoba’s desk with a grin, Aoba _knew_ that Noiz couldn’t handle the tension any longer. Aoba expected to hear Noiz ask him to accompany him in his office, but all he did was soften his hard gaze, rattle off the name of their favorite Italian restaurant and a set time, and describe in great detail what suit Aoba should wear.

The entire walk home Aoba was completely, _completely_ confused. Why a date? What was he going to do, _propose_ after not going without sex for so long to make up for it? Aoba didn’t know, and frankly, didn’t want to think about it further until that night.

But now Noiz was just showering him continually with compliments and expensive wine instead of trying to feel him up. They were both so eager for one another, it was obvious, so why was he acting so tame? It was enjoyable that he wasn’t groping for him, knowing that Noiz would make it impossible for him to be quiet in public. But it was unbearable, because he _needed_ Noiz so badly. Aoba wondered if all of this was because he was trying to break down his stubborn pride, to give up and let him fuck him atop this white tablecloth or in a bathroom stall, uncaring to who saw them—

“Hey, Aoba?” Noiz asked softly, waving a hand in front of Aoba’s face to get his attention. He perked up an eyebrow, chuckling as he drew his hand back to his side of the table. “You alright over there? Sure drank a lot of wine for being such a lightweight.”  
“’Course not, I’m… I’m totally fine,” Aoba lied. Dammit. Noiz _definitely_ knew that was a lie too, considering how his eyebrow twitched upwards once again.   
“Were you thinking about something, then?” Noiz asked in an innocent tone. Oh, but Aoba wasn’t dumb. Noiz was playing coy now, and he wasn’t having it. He batted away Noiz’s hand away from his side of the table, which was offering to fill up Aoba’s empty wine glass.  
“Not what I’m thinking about— _brat_.”

Aoba glanced up at Noiz and his voice nearly caught in his throat.  
In the dim, auburn glow of the restaurant, Noiz looked _stunning._ The light casted long, sensual shadows against the hollows of his cheekbones and his sharp, refined features, making him appear much older than he was. The flickering glow of candlelight made his eyes softer than usual, the orange and green beautiful against one another, captivating even. He wanted to drink in this sight of Noiz forever, keep it encased in a photo or in words of tender-hearted poetry. Noiz looked so beautiful. And wanted… he wanted…

He wanted Noiz.

The not-so-sober part of Aoba wanted to see him open mouthed and moaning right here, right now. He wanted to see his face flushed the same red as the wine he was drinking. He wanted to see him bite his lips to muffle his groans from the rest of the restaurant.  
And he wanted to give Noiz a taste of his own medicine for always spilling compliments at him. Compliments were never an effective means to embarrass Noiz, he just shrugged them off. But no… Aoba wanted to see Noiz flustered in public so badly that it made him hard.

He reached out and grabbed the wine bottle, pouring out the rest of its contents—around a quarter of a glass full—into his glass. He downed it without even tasting the bitter merlot until the acrid taste burned its way down his throat.  
If he was going to do what he was planning on doing, he sure as hell didn’t want to be anywhere near sober, lest memories come back and haunt him later. Aoba made a mental note to thank Noiz for always reserving them a table in the quietest area of the restaurant, near the back, where only a few other couples littered the tables around them.

Noiz stared both in awe and in confusion as he watched Aoba down his wine, mouth agape, ready to retort.   
“Aoba, what are you—”  
“Shhh, stop talking,” Aoba slurred, drunker now than he was before, allowing his mind to stop focusing so clearly as his actions took over. He leaned over the surface of the table, miming Noiz by breaking into a sensual grin. In the firelight his golden eyes glazed over with intoxication.   
“It’s been a while,” he mused, toying with a long lock of his hair, cocking his head sideways, trying to act coy. “Have you missed me?”  
“Missed you?” Noiz asked, feigning indifference.  
Aoba laughed softly. “You know what I mean, Noiz.”

Noiz clicked his tongue and curled his lips upwards in a smirk. He was prepared for whatever Aoba was planning. Not entirely, however.

Aoba got a tad annoyed at Noiz’s bratty behavior, while also getting a bit too excited, making his body move before his mind.  
He lifted his shoe up off the ground and ground the tip of his Oxford into Noiz’s groin, not enough to cause searing pain but enough to tease with a strong sense of pressure. The surprise made Noiz jerk backwards in surprise, mouth agape in a comical O shape.   
“Aoba! What…”  
He looked down at his crotch, enough to see the glistening black leather slowly rubbing up and down the front of his trousers, compensating for such a rough intrusion with delicate movements. At first the hard leather felt foreign and strange, especially feeling his groin pressed close to his body with every movement, but Noiz quickly grew accustomed to the strange sensation, focusing on the dim pleasure instead.  
His eyes flit upwards and found Aoba’s—the look in Aoba’s eyes was nothing short of pure desire, making him go harder against the tip of the shoe grinding against him. Aoba’s movements weren’t enough to get him panting or moaning yet, just to excite him enough to beg for more.

From across the table he heard the low, melodic tone of Aoba’s voice calling out to him, “Feels good, doesn’t it? Or… are you embarrassed? Your face is so red right now.”  
Aoba was not necessarily good at dirty talk because Noiz was so exceptional at it; Noiz could make Aoba halfway gone to coming with his voice alone, breathing words shamelessly into the whorls of his ear. Aoba tried in earnest to mimic him, and even if his own voice was sensual enough, he couldn’t put down his walls enough to make it effective.  
To lead Noiz along instead, he added a little more force into the movements of his foot, making slow, methodical movements up and down where he felt Noiz’s shaft pressed against his pants.

Thankfully they had a long, white tablecloth concealing their legs, obscuring the movement of Aoba’s foot continually into the region between Noiz’s legs. He stared at Noiz as his mouth twisted into a trembling frown of concentration, the younger man trying to keep control of himself from moving too much or making too much of a sound as Aoba’s slow movements gradually worked him until he was thoroughly hard. Thanks to their intoxicated state, the flush of his cheeks from arousal wasn’t even noticeable to unsuspecting eyes, but Noiz’s body was completely trembling. As Noiz grew more accustomed to the movements of Aoba’s shoe, the other man moved harder, inclining the tip of his toe downwards to brush the underside of his cock.

With the gentle movements, Noiz’s mouth hung open, sighing softly whenever Aoba drew his foot away to draw it back in again. He did it so tenderly and slowly it made him ache, letting out soft, guttural noises as he craved more. Aoba chuckled, completely drinking in the sight of Noiz trying to keep himself composed.

“Woo _ooow_ , you really want this, don’t you, Noiz? I haven’t seen you act this desperate for it in months.”  
Aoba gingerly lifted the tip of his shoe away, making Noiz’s back arch with the lack of stimulation and exhale sharply. Before Noiz could regain himself, Aoba shifted in his seat and pressed the sole of his shoe deeper into his crotch, grinding the ball of his foot into the region where Aoba knew Noiz’s piercings would be. Everything before was mere teasing, now Aoba worked him with the intention to make him come. It was both so alluring and so infuriating, having to grind his teeth together to stop anything but soft gasps of breath from leaving his mouth.

Noiz closed his eyes, sucking in a sharp breath, his entire body tensing up at he became acclimated to the pleasure. Aoba was working him almost too much, a sharp throb of pain conjoined with the pleasure, making him even farther gone.   
Aoba slowed his motions down to gauge where Noiz was, giving him some space to breathe. But now Aoba was too gentle—he wanted _more._ Slowly he rolled his hips to meet Aoba’s heel. He bet he looked hilarious like this, trying as hard as possible to not cause his chair to creak as he moved slowly. Aoba was cruel and sadistic, teasing him tenfold for flirting with him. He didn’t have to look up to know that Aoba was enjoying him writhe like this.  
His trembling hand reached out and grabbed his napkin, holding it in a thick ball, grasping it tight enough to make his knuckles flare white.

Noiz was almost at his brink before he even realized it, slowly rising his hips back and forth to meet in time with Aoba’s heel, biting the inside of his lips until his mouth filled with the coppery taste of blood, stifling his moans as weak, desperate sobs in the back of his throat.  
The numbing sweetness was beginning to drown out his senses. He was so on the verge that with one last thrust, he would be awash in ecstasy. When he rolled his hips forward to meet the hard edge of Aoba’s shoe, however, it wasn’t there, entirely retracted, leaving Noiz high and dry. He heard Aoba curse underneath his breath as he drew himself away, then heard his fingers nervously drumming along the table’s surface.

He slowly opened his eyes to see why Aoba had stopped so immediately. From the corner of his eye he saw their waitress walking towards them, who by serendipity or a sheer miracle, hadn’t come to check in their table for the last few minutes.  
Noiz’s appearance was a haggard mess from nearly coming, though he was drunk, and could blame the blood rushing to his face from the wine. Their waitress gave them both a once-look over, the two flustered at having been nearly caught; though she had suspicions about what they were doing, it wasn’t worth her time. She left quickly, taking their emptied plates and setting down the receipt. With fumbling hands Noiz simply pulled out a 100 euro note and set it on the table, not even bothering to check the bill. He knew Aoba would be mad at him later on for it, but right now he didn’t care.  
He gave Aoba a hungry look, his passions fully awaked but not satisfied. He was already scrambling up from the table, buttoning his suit jacket to hide how wrinkled his trousers were and a dark spot in the front of the fabric.

“Car. Right now,” Noiz said in a desperate, husky tone as he gripped Aoba’s forearm, pulling him up with him.   
“Fuck yeah,” Aoba replied without any complaint, his own voice thick with desire.

They quickly left the restaurant, nearly stumbling over one another in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can't believe i wrote this, oh my god........ ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ (nice radiohead title, right)
> 
> don't drink and drive, kids!!! ... no, no, they just go into their car and do the do in their tinted windows.


	5. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba discovers a pattern Noiz has developed, then asks him about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is LOOSELY inspired by the new hospital CG from re:code, so if you are trying to avoid spoilers, heed with caution.

It was something Aoba noticed on a whim. He recognized a pattern Noiz tended to follow: Noiz would clasp a hand to Aoba’s face as he kissed him, even in the throes of passion. If it wasn’t his face, it was the side of his neck, or slipping Aoba’s shirt upwards to touch a sliver of his exposed torso.  
From light pecks on the lips to drinking Aoba in with ardor, there was always some connection of Noiz’s hands to his body.

He didn’t even realize it until this morning, where Noiz had stupidly overslept and was running around frantically through their apartment to get ready for work as quickly as possible—he had a dire meeting as soon as he arrived in the office. Some moron in accounting scheduled it for America’s time zones instead of Germany’s, so it was despicably early in the morning where the sun had barely even reached dawn. Being late for this crucial meeting would damper their company’s reputation.  
Noiz was panicking, to say the least, and Aoba trying as much as he could to help his idiot boyfriend leave the house as quickly as possible but still appear professional.  
By the time he had finally gotten dressed and his suitcase was packed, Noiz was breathless from running around, chest rising and falling as he panted. As he turned to jog out the front door he stopped and turned on his heel, like had forgotten something important. He stepped back into the apartment, into the bathroom where Aoba was just about to brush his teeth. He held Aoba’s face between both of his hands and kissed him hard before heading out the apartment. Aoba stood there in confusion.  
As he watched Noiz’s back as he scrambled out of the apartment, he recalled all the routine morning kisses, the brief kisses stolen in public or at work—there was always some physical connection besides their lips. Always. Aoba’s cheeks flushed at the thought, but figured it wasn’t something all too important to dwell on until later. He needed to get ready for work too, hopping into the shower before heading off to work himself.

At work, Aoba barely caught sight of Noiz. He was busy rustling two and fro from his office, to his older brother’s. When Noiz was finally able to get some reprieve, Aoba had been instructed by one of Noiz’s assistants to help accompany him in doing filing of years-old bills and receipts. It was a long, grueling, and uncomfortable process that lasted up until the last hour of the work day, mostly done in complete silence because Aoba’s German was still bits and phrases. Once it reached 5:00 the one or two people that were helping him file left. He was just about to head back to his desk to get ready to leave when he received a message from Noiz on his Coil, saying that Noiz had a couple more things to finish up before he left. “You can leave if you want to,” the last bit of the message said, but Aoba knew from its implication that he was begging Aoba to wait for him to finish up.

So Aoba spent another half hour filing in the empty workspace. More specifically, he was _pretending_ to file, as he would step away from the filing cabinets down the hallway to peer through the drawn blinds in Noiz’s office. He could see Noiz’s silhouette still moving, fingers typing at lightning speeds as holograms surrounded him on all sides. He couldn’t wait any longer, and it was the Friday of an exhaustive work week; he just wanted to be home as soon as possible.  
Out of his mind with boredom and with his mind dead set, Aoba knocked against the door before swinging it open ajar. Noiz’s attention was already glued away from the screens, closing them up and setting papers and Usagimodoki cubes inside his briefcase.

“Hey, Aoba,” he said with a tired smile. He snapped his briefcase shut and leaned back in his leather chair. He covered his mouth with a hand as he yawned.  
“Tired?” Aoba asked, wandering through the spacious office into one of the sleek padded chairs set before Noiz’s black wood desk. Noiz nodded.  
“Long… long day. Fuck.” Noiz rubbed his eyes, dark circles lining the bright green irises. With a reluctant sigh he lifted himself up from his desk, encircling it to stand in front of Aoba.  
“Ready to get out of here?” he asked Aoba, leaning downwards so their faces were on the same level. He lifted the corner of his mouth up in a smirk.  
“Or we could stay here for a little while… and I can fuck you on my desk. Nobody’s here now, so nobody would know.”  
Aoba snorted, his tone dry, sarcastic. “Yeah. Like I’m _ever_ going to let you do that. Keep dreaming, Noiz.”  
Aoba playfully shoved Noiz away as he stood up, brushing down the hem of his own suit, trying to act distracted from the faint, tense air hanging around them. He felt suddenly Noiz’s palm, dry and warm, pressed against his cheek, feeling Noiz arch his neck upwards to more easily accompany him as he pecked Aoba on the lips.

… There it was again. Touching him when he kissed him. Aoba briskly moved away from, making a motion for Noiz to follow him as he skirted around the office. Noiz obliged, through with a confused look on his face as he followed his boyfriend’s footsteps.

“Kiss me again,” Aoba said as he stood in the middle of the large, sleek office, Munich's skyline in full view with the wall of glass windows behind Noiz's desk. Noiz broke into a smirk as he did as he was asked. And there it was again. Noiz’s hand was settled against his neck as he dipped in to kiss him. Aoba quickly broke apart from their kiss.  
“You considering my offer, Aoba?” Noiz teased, reaching out to toy with a lock of Aoba’s hair.  
“No, _brat._ But I do have a question for you.”  
“What’s that?”  
“… So… well…”  
How was he supposed to word this? _Why do you touch my cheek or my neck when you kiss me?_ That would sound too inconsiderate, too nitpicky. But he couldn’t think of anything else, and Noiz was now staring at his expectantly, brows pinched together.  
“So… I was wondering… I noticed something. Whenever you kiss me, you touch my cheek or neck or… whatever. Why?”  
“… Hm. I had no idea I did that.”  
Aoba blinked. “Really?!”  
“Yeah.” Noiz shrugged. “Maybe it’s one of those involuntarily things, like my hands go up and touch your cheek even without me knowing it.”  
“I see. … Why do you think?”  
“I have no idea—but, I don’t know, maybe because it makes me feel closer to you?”  
The bluntness of Noiz’s words made his chest flutter.  
“… Is that so.”  
“And, well, I didn’t have any sensation up until 7 months ago, so I guess it’s not out of the question.”  
So he does it because he wants to feel me, Aoba thought. That’s cute. He moved closer to Noiz, wrapping his arms around him in a weak hug.

“So… Noiz.”  
“Yeah?”  
“I have another question. What are some of the things you like the most, since you could never feel them before?”  
He saw a loving spark flash in Noiz’s eyes, accompanied by his trademark, juvenile desire. Noiz moved closer, until mere inches separated their lips. Aoba had to crane his neck upwards to catch sight of Noiz’s eyes, grinning as he watched Noiz contemplate his answer.

“Well. I like the feel of rain, but I don’t like how cold it is. I like the feel of silk. I like the warmth of the sun. I like Ren’s fur. I love…”  
He moved his hands up from where they had been settling on Aoba’s waist. He cupped Aoba’s face, hands set on each cheek. A terse silence hung in the air as Noiz remained silent for a couple moments, eyes dancing across Aoba’s face. The older man let out a soft sigh as Noiz brushed his thumb against his lower lip; Aoba watched him breathlessly through eyes only vaguely ajar, completely entranced in him.  
Noiz whispered in a voice so low and so rich, it made Aoba’s heart thump faster.  
“I love your skin,” Noiz whispered against Aoba’s skin, breath hot and needy. “It’s so warm… like the sun. But not entirely like the sun, either. It’s warmer, and more real. The sun can burn me, but you can’t. You are just nothing but warmth, Aoba.”  
Aoba’s mouth gaped open to reply, but Noiz’s romantic musings left him voiceless.

“I love when you get out of the shower,” Noiz continued, grinning as he gauged Aoba’s reaction. “When it’s faintly damp and so _soft_.” A pause. “And… I love your lips. They’re soft, too… is pillowy the right word?”  
He brushed his thumb against Aoba’s lips again before replacing it with his own lips, just grazing Aoba’s before breaking away.  
Moving his face away from the close air they shared, Noiz grabbed a stray lock of Aoba’s hair and curling it around his finger. Aoba watched, captivated, as blue hair wound around Noiz’s olive skin. He brought his finger to his lips, kissing Aoba’s hair. He glanced upwards, meeting Aoba’s eyes with a tender smile.  
“I love your hair the most, though. It’s like silk.”  
Noiz let his hand drop and let the tendril unfurl as it sank back to Aoba’s chest. Noiz closed his eyes and rested their foreheads together.  
“What I guess I’m trying to say it that… I love you, Aoba. All of you.”

Aoba stared at him, stunned, speechless. Noiz moved in and met his lips with Aoba’s. The blue haired man gasped and moaned softly against Noiz’s lips as he kissed him slowly, passionately. His tongue darted out of his lips and urged Aoba’s open; Aoba, eager, obliged. Noiz’s tongue ran across Aoba’s teeth before finding his tongue, sucking tenderly on it, drawing out another soft moan from the man encased helplessly in Noiz’s arms. Noiz’s hands brushed at the side of Aoba’s face and moved upwards, weaving his hands through the loose strands, massaging Aoba’s temple gingerly.  
Aoba was so lost in the passion of their kiss he didn’t notice when his knees began to buckle, relying on Noiz to hold him up instead. After a while of kissing one another, of drawing faint moans and slowly kindling a warmth in the pits of both of their stomachs, Aoba broke apart, gasping as he forgot to breathe as he let Noiz kiss him. It seemed that Noiz was in the same condition, as they spent a moment gasping, collecting their breath. Noiz pressed one final, lingering kiss on Aoba’s lips before breaking apart entirely, scooping Aoba up into a tight hug. He buried his face in Aoba’s hair.  
“I hope that answered your question,” Noiz said. Aoba laughed softly and nodded, then reciprocated Noiz’s embrace. They stayed cocooned in one another’s scent for a while, listening to the soft whirr of the air conditioner and each other’s rapidly beating heartbeats.

It was rare to catch Noiz being absolutely nothing but loving—he usually had an ulterior motive like leading Aoba back into bed with him, or to childishly tease him until it irritated Aoba and he teased back. Now he was loving, so loving that it left Aoba speechless. Noiz loved him so much, and he loved Noiz so much.  
It had only been around two months since Aoba accompanied Noiz back to Germany, all of their emotions were new and raw. Noiz was still growing into the mature young man he made himself to be for Aoba, and he was growing into a skin he still needed time growing accustomed to. He needed time to adjust and become familiar with most emotions and sensations—keenly, telling Aoba that he loved him.  
Noiz implicitly stated that he loved Aoba with his heart and soul, but this was the first time Noiz had ever explicitly said _I love you_ to Aoba.

“I love you,” Aoba said quietly, moreso to himself than to Noiz.  
“I love you, too,” Noiz said. Then said it again, and again, as wound his arms a little bit tighter around his boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shameless, shameless, SHAMELESS fluff :3 ahyea
> 
> like i stated above this is loosely based on that WONDERFUL CG......... bless you re:code. i also noticed that in his route in re:connect--which i just recently re-played--he never says that he loves aoba explicitly. the most he says is "i am in love with you, and you are in love with me--am i wrong?" but he never says outright that he LOVES aoba, but aoba does if you go for the end with the belt and handkerchief.  
> ahhh okay, sorry for getting off on a tangent... i just want to hear noiz said "i love you " in the drama CD...fffffff


	6. Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba adopts two rabbits for Noiz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONGRATS ON THE NOIAO DRAMA CD BEING ANNOUNCED EVERYONE!!! *throws confetti*
> 
> Just a warning: there's death mentioned in this piece, so be wary of that. Also partially self-beta'd as of right now, I apologize for any mistakes.

Aoba stood in front of a local pet store, contemplating.  
He didn’t know entirely _why_ he was standing in the middle of the sidewalk; he received angry glares from passersby and foul curse words uttered under people’s breath as he just stood there, _staring._ The weight of the paper bags carried in each arm started to sting, drawing Aoba out of his trance.

In the frosted glass of the pet shop, huddled in a corner of the cage they were set in to share body heat, were around a dozen rabbits—they were all relatively big, around two or three years old, supposed strays or animals that had never found a welcoming home. They were sleeping soundly, with tiny noses twitching as they dreamt.  
A pair, in particular, caught Aoba’s attention. They were huddled a little further away from the rest of the rabbits, cuddled up together. The white one initially caught Aoba’s attention from his peripheral, standing so stark in contract to the rest of the rabbits, who were either brown or blonde. Its fur was mostly pure white, besides for a few patches of ebony ringed around its eyes and along its long, floppy ears. It was dozing atop its blonde counterpart, with flecks of brown all along its coat.  
Aoba wasn’t quite sure why, but the two rabbits nestled into one another reminded him of his husband; perhaps it was due to the fact Noiz had been gone for the last couple of days on a business trip and how much he missed Noiz was beginning to verge on suffocating. This was the first business trip Noiz had taken after their marriage, and the separation of oceans and continents while in the midst of their honeymoon stage made Aoba’s heart ache.  
When he saw romantic advertisements or couples, hand-in-hand, ambling down the street as he ran errands, it made Aoba’s overwhelming disheartened. He knew Noiz was going to be home by early afternoon tomorrow, but even realizing this couldn’t alleviate the pain and he absence Noiz left whenever he would leave.  
The lively white rabbit clamored over the brown-blond one as it tried to get more comfortable in its sleep, making Aoba smile softly, despite pain tugging at his heart.  
Aoba was expecting that when his husband would return home, he would have a shower of gifts to pamper him with; in the last couple of months Aoba had taken off a couple of days of work to focus on learning German—and it had immensely improved. From only being able to ask _Was ist das?_ and other simple questions for months, Aoba was now capable of holding deep, fluent conversation after around a year and a half of practicing. To show how proud he was of Aoba, Noiz would give him gifts—anything from useless trinkets that caught Aoba’s eye as they wandered through shops, to things that Noiz could enjoy, as well… like bunny ears and an attachable rabbit tail. (Which was always accompanied by Aoba smacking Noiz upside the head in his embarrassment.) He enjoyed the sentiment, but Aoba felt guilty whenever Noiz arrived home with wrapped boxes hidden behind his back, grinning knowingly at Aoba. He wanted to get something for Noiz return.

And Aoba had found just the thing.

Aoba blinked and came back to reality, realizing he had been standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring into this pet shop for probably five minutes. The grocery bags were beginning to sag and a loaf of bread threatened to plummet out of the paper bag onto the concrete. He tutted in embarrassment at himself and made his way to the pet shop front door, pulling down the pink scarf bundled around his chin to accompany the cold.  
A small bell rang as the door was pushed open. He was immediately welcomed by a pungent, though not unpleasant, stench of pulpy mulch, an earthy scent of animal feed, and the collective heat of animals in the pet shop. The store was quite warm, to compensate for the freezing winter cold outside, and most of the animals were asleep with the pleasant warmth. He glanced around—cats, hamsters, birds, and other small animals were arranged in rows of cages along the sides of the walls and in pens around the shop. Something about the store reminded him of Heibon, possibly due to the organized chaos and apparent disarray the pet supplies were in fastened on the walls.  
Several thoughts danced through Aoba’s mind. Should he really be at a place like this? Should he _really_ be adopting a rabbit right now? Does their apartment even allow pets? Is this a reliable place to adopt animals from? Either way, it was too late to back away now… and that bunny _really_ did remind him of Noiz, for some reason—

“Can I help you?” Aoba heard a gruff voice call out to him. He swiveled around from studying the dozing animals in their cages to the back of the store. Sitting behind the cashier desk was a stout man, though despite his weight and receding hairline was somewhat handsome, his cheeks ruddy from the heat of the store.  
“Are you looking to get an animal, young man?” He continued. He spoke so quickly and in such a thick accent it was almost impossible to Aoba to understand him. Tentatively Aoba moved further into the store, apologizing for his insipid German, and asked the man to repeat himself.  
  
“Are you here to get an animal?” The man said slowly, taking time to articulate his words so that the blue-haired boy standing in front of his desk could understand him. Slowly Aoba translated his words, nodding quickly after a moment. He gestured to the rabbit pen near the front window.  
“Yeah,” Aoba said in German, self-consciously. “One of the… rabbits… over there.”  
“’Right then,” the storeowner said, stepping out from behind the counter. As he moved closer to Aoba, he could distinctly smell stale tobacco rolling off this man’s clothing, making Aoba’s nose wrinkle at the scent. He followed despite his disdain as the man walked to the rabbit pen.  
Most of the rabbits had woken up at the sound of the bell attached to the front door rang, all staring through half-lidded eyes around in confusion as they slowly woke up. The man turned to look at Aoba, grinning at the young man surveying the rabbits.  
“Which one would you like? And I’m sure you know what it means to take care of a rabbit, right?”  
From Aoba’s silence, he could register his answer. The man laughed, then rolled his shoulders in a shrug.  
“Don’t worry about it, I can help you get the essentials for your pet, no problem. Now, which one do you want?”  
Aoba set his groceries down on the ground as he bent down onto his knees. Between the plastic bars of the gate he studied the white rabbit—though it still remained curled up atop the blond rabbit. It was fully awake by now, its ears perked upwards as it curiously studied Aoba. Aoba studied it back, a grin slowly forming on his lips.  
“… That one,” he said a gentle voice. He lifted a hand to the gate, letting the rabbit sniff at his finger.  
“Mm, yeah, that’s a nice looking rabbit, isn’t it?” He paused. “Except there’s one thing.”  
Aoba looked up at the man, brows furrowed together. “What’s that?”  
“For some reason it seems that that rabbit and that blond one are inseparable. If you want one, you have to get the other. You fine with that?”

Aoba hesitated. It was outlandish for him to even consider getting one rabbit, let alone two. But, likewise, he wanted to get Noiz a rabbit so _badly_ , god knows Noiz would love two rabbits—

“Well?”  
Aoba stood up with a strong pronouncement in his stance. He grinned with a nod.  
“That’s perfectly fine.”

*

Aoba now sat around in the empty apartment, staring listlessly at the ceiling as he anguished in how he managed to waste 300 euros in less than an hour yesterday.  
Adopting each rabbit cost around 60 euros each, and the extra supplies – a pen, a litter box, feed, food dispensers, and so on, only made the price rack rise up until Aoba thought his heart would drop into his stomach when the storeowner rang up the charge. At least, thank god, Noiz had given him a credit card and said he could use it on whatever he wanted. And he splurged to buy something for Noiz, of course. Of course.

“Ren,” he whined, starting up the ball of fur resting in his lap. The Pomeranian booted up, wagging his tail as he sat up.  
“Aoba, are you still worrying about the expenses you made yesterday?” Ren asked. “You stayed up far too late last night worrying about it, and are awake too early to have gotten adequate sleep.”  
“Thanks, _mom,_ ” Aoba retorted with a tired sigh. Yeah, he wished he could be back in bed right now, but the pet store woke him up to tell him they would bring the rabbits along with the supplies he bought yesterday in about an hour from now. Aoba tried to make a selfless gesture of bringing them home along with him after adopting them yesterday, but the store owner noticed the overflowing grocery bags in Aoba’s hands and insisted that the store would deliver them to his address.

“Did I do something stupid?” he asked Ren absently, running his hands through the Allmate’s hair, ruffling it up. His stomach was in knots and he couldn’t keep still, lest he toil in guilt. Noiz even noticed that Aoba was more restless than usual when they video called last night; Aoba lied and blamed it on being excited to see Noiz when he came home—which of course, the brat appreciated with a perverse grin.

“You wanted to get a gift for Noiz, didn’t you?” Ren asked in response, pulling Aoba out of his thoughts. "If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have impulse bought them. And like you said, Noiz will be ecstatic at having a pet rabbit—”  
“— _Two_ pet rabbits, Ren—”  
“—either way, that is something that Noiz would appreciate, wouldn’t it? You should not feel as guilty as you do.”

Aoba sighed softly as he mulled over Ren’s words; he _did_ have a point. Like Noiz would hate having a pet rabbit; if anything, Noiz would love it more than anything in the world. Aoba imagined Noiz walking through the front door, finding two rabbits in their living room, and breaking into the most childish and enthusiastic grin he had ever given Aoba.  
He could hear Noiz laughing as their whiskers tickled his sensitive palms, exclaiming at how soft their pelt was, completely fussing over them like his own children. Noiz _had_ joked about buying a rabbit a couple months ago, and Aoba talked to their landlord and pets were allowed in their complex, so… maybe he shouldn’t regret buying the rabbits.  
Gradually, the guilt of his purchase washed away. All that was left was for the rabbits to arrive and for Noiz to come home. This was all for Noiz, after all.

*

Aoba slowly pulled the door to Noiz’s study closed as he received a text message on his Coil: it was Noiz.

 _Just got off the airplane. I’ll be home soon._ ♥

Aoba exhaled fondly as he received the message, replying back with a simple _See you soon_ ♥ before opening the study door open again once more, to peer inside. In the far corner of the room—away from Noiz’s work space, in a small section of room completely unused in the two years or so they’ve spent living there—was a large pen. Inside it harbored sleeping areas, bowls for both food and water, hay lain down upon sheets of newspaper, and, most importantly, two rabbits hobbling around, sniffing the air, growing accustomed to their new home. The white one was gnawing on a chew toy Aoba bought to keep their teeth healthy, while the blond one was nibbling on a piece of lettuce.  
The pet store owner had helped him set up their cage and instruct Aoba in how to properly take care of them. He then contended that Aoba must let him rabbit-proof his living room for no extra cost. Aoba _knew_ it was due to his feminine physique and this guy just trying to watch him a while longer—but hell, the guy was offering to do something that would end up pissing him off, so why not? It took the man around an hour to properly secure the room, as Aoba prepared fresh vegetables and read articles on how to properly care for rabbits on his Coil.

Now Aoba anxiously paced the length of their apartment several times over as he waited for Noiz. Frequently he opened the study room as he passed it to see if the rabbits were okay.  
His palms were clammy and his stomach felt like it was about to burst with his nerves. Would Noiz like it, would Noiz really, _really_ like his gift? He knew he was overthinking, yet he couldn’t help himself. What if his impulse buy upset Noiz, now that they had to take care of two animals that would live for up to ten years. Noiz never had any responsibility on his shoulders like this, would he even _want_ to dedicate time and responsibility to anything besides Aoba?  
He didn’t know, and thinking was starting to make his head ache.

When he heard the front door click as a key undid the lock, Aoba felt at once completely relieved and even more anxious.

“Aoba?” Noiz’s voice called out in a delighted sing-song. Aoba heard the wheels of Noiz’s suitcase rattle against the hardwood, then stop; he heard a zipper be undone, and the rustling of paper as something was fished out. Noiz did this all in the solace right in front of the apartment door, humming softly to himself as he worked. _Of course_ , Aoba thought, he was fishing out another gift. With a humored chuckle Aoba shook his head.

“I’m in the living room, Noiz!” Aoba called out to. He heard shoes clicking against the floor in response, then Noiz appeared, his suit slightly disheveled from a long and tedious flight. His cheeks were flushed red from the cold, and his hair was slicked back. Upon seeing Aoba, he immediately broke into a grin.  
“Hey, you,” Noiz crooned, closing the gap between them in three long strides; he took Aoba’s chin in his hand and kissed him hungrily, crushing their lips together hard before opening Aoba’s lips with his tongue, kissing him and sucking on his tongue with the pent-up ardor from days spent apart. Noiz broke apart with a satiated sigh, winding his arm around Aoba’s waist, pulling him into a hug. He still kept one hand behind his back.

“I missed you,” Noiz said as they pressed their foreheads together.  
“I missed you, too,” Aoba replied, lovingly rubbing the tip of his nose against Noiz’s.  
“How was Tokyo?”  
“Terrible. You weren’t there to enjoy it with. And I’m so _tired_.”  
“Want to go take a nap, then? You must be jetlagged.”  
“… Later. I want to do _other_ things first.” Noiz arched a brow, grinning. “Don’t you, too?”  
“ _Pervert_ ,” Aoba hissed, half-jokingly, as he moved out of Noiz’s embrace. “And no. I’m not going to have sex until you’re properly rested. I don’t want you falling asleep on me.”  
Reluctantly Noiz sighed. “ _Fine._ But—” Aoba heard a rustling noise as Noiz unsheathed his hand from behind his back.  
“I did get something for you.”

In his hand was a small, ornately wrapped gift with wine red wrapping paper and gold trim. It was stunning; Aoba barely wanted to touch it lest he ruin the packaging. With reluctance, Aoba took the gift but shyly averted his eye. In the joy of seeing Noiz again, he momentarily forgot about his own gift. He felt sick to his stomach with fright.  
“What is it?” Noiz pouted. “Come on, open it.”  
“Actually…” Aoba began, mouth hung open to explain, but all he could do was sigh.  
Aoba moved away from Noiz to set the gift down, before busily fussing with Noiz’s disheveled tie and suit front to distract himself. He was too nervous to meet Noiz’s eye; he could tell Noiz was introspecting him down right now, trying to read his shy demeanor, which only made him more nervous. Words sputtered out of his mouth without knowing what he was saying.  
“I got you a gift, too. … Uh. I hope you like it. It’s… u-uh… I want you to see it first. Is that okay?”  
He could hear the grin in Noiz’s voice as he said, “You got _me_ a gift?”  
Aoba could only nod in reply.  
“Well, okay,” Noiz said, voice fond. He reached out and gave Aoba’s hand a tight, affirming squeeze, trying to alleviate his husband’s anxieties. “My gift can wait. Show me, then.”

Doing as he was told, Aoba begrudgingly led Noiz down the hallway leading towards their bedroom. When he stopped in the middle of the hallway, however, Noiz’s pursed his lips, the look of confusion on his face enough to signify the question on his lips.

Aoba just averted his gaze, gesturing to Noiz’s study.  
“In there?” Noiz asked gently, for confirmation. Aoba nodded.  
“What am I going to find in here? Did you set up a whole BDSM setup right inside my office so I can’t ever work without getting turned on? Oh, _Aoba_ ,” Noiz said, continuing to tease Aoba. It was rude on his part, he kind of already figured, but his husband already looked so shy and feeble, he couldn’t resist making it worse, until Aoba was beet red and wanting to flee from embarrassment. Aoba was so red now his cheeks were a bright cherry red, it was endearing; Noiz pressed a kiss to Aoba’s temple before reaching for his office’s door, turning the knob slowly for added anticipation.

“Aoba, what did you—”  
Then Noiz went completely silent, nothing but a faint gasp of surprise leaving his mouth.

Noiz stepped into the room, moving slowly as he advanced towards the rabbit pen. His movements were so slow and articulate from shock and awe. The two rabbits stared up at him curiously with ears perked.

“You… you got me…” was all Noiz could sputter out, turning his head away from the rabbits to Aoba. His eyes were springing tears.  
Aoba nodded, satisfied with Noiz’s reaction. Noiz was cute when he cried, which he unfortunately didn’t do often.  
“You like it?” he asked, though the question was obvious. Noiz head barely moved up and down, still caught off guard by surprise.

Noiz was rooted to the ground for fear if he move, he would either harm the rabbits or break this dreamlike scene. Aoba reached into the pen and carefully removed both rabbits one by one, settling them in Noiz’s arms. The bunnies jerked and moved around in Noiz’s arms and, in fear of dropping them, Noiz sat cross legged on the ground, settling the rabbits in his lap. Aoba followed suit, watching his husband stare in reverence at the creatures hobbling across his lap.

Sheepishly Noiz ran his hands across the rabbit’s backs. “They’re so soft…” he whispered as tears began to roll down the sides of his face. He used both hands to pet the rabbits as they roamed around. The black-and-white one was more docile, enjoying the warmth of Noiz’s lap, but the blond one liked to roam around, hopping over, even, towards Noiz’s desk, surveying the room.

Noiz stayed quiet for a while as he played with his rabbits. He laughed as their whiskers tickled at his palm, while repeating how soft they were as he pet them. Aoba watched in silent admiration.

“Why did you get two bunnies?” Noiz asked out of the blue, finally breaking his eyes away from the rabbits.  
“Uh… why do you ask?”  
“Bunnies are notorious for… what?”  
_Oh._  
Noiz smirked. “Planning on starting a bunny company, Aoba?”  
Aoba grumbled, and glared at him. “Th… They’re both girls! T-the pet owner wouldn’t let me adopt them unless I got both! He said for some reason they’re inseparable, so…”  
Noiz’s voice was immediately in his ear, soft, warm, and loving.  
“So they’re like us, right?”  
Aoba flushed. “W… What do you mean?”  
“Well, we _shouldn’t_ be together… my parents still think that, but we do, because we’re inseparable.” He pressed a kiss to Aoba’s cheek. “ _That’s_ what I mean.”  
Noiz pressed another kiss against the corner of Aoba’s mouth, breaking apart with a grin.

“I can’t tell you how much this gift means to me, Aoba. I’m so _happy._ They’re perfect.”  
Aoba shrugged as if it was nothing, dismissing the toiling 24 hours he had spent fretting over his gift. “I’m glad you love it. Any ideas on names?”  
Noiz made a soft humming noise in the back of his throat a he contemplated. He scooped the floppy-eared, black-and-white rabbit into his lap, pampering it by petting it as he contemplated.

“Yuki,” Noiz said after a while.  
“For snow?”  
“Mmhm.”  
“That’s nice, I like it.”

Carefully Aoba took the other rabbit into his arms, cradling it. He brushed the tip of his finger along the bridge of the bunny’s nose, grinning softly as its nose twitched.

“What about this one?”  
“What about Meike?”  
“I like that name, too.”  
“Meike it is, then. Meike and Yuki.”

For the next couple of days, whatever free time Noiz had was spent cooped up in his study, fussing over his rabbits. Aoba didn’t mind, really; it was nice to get a reprieve from constantly being the center of Noiz’s attention.

*

Aoba woke up in the middle of the night, groaning with the additional heat a couple of blankets tossed across their bed made. If he had known how cold Germany could get in the winter time, he would have second guessed coming with Noiz to live here. And Noiz radiated a superfluity of body heat, which Aoba didn’t particularly mind, but when Noiz added blankets upon blankets it became unbearable.

Aoba threw off most of the blankets, groaning with disdain as he let the cooler bedroom air wash over him. He was surprised when the blankets didn’t collect on Noiz’s side, but rather fall back onto the bed—which made Aoba realize that Noiz wasn’t in bed with him. The left side of their bed was completely empty.

_Again?_

Aoba groaned with annoyance as he lugged himself out of bed. This had been the third night in a row that Noiz had stayed up until the late, late night to watch and admire Meike and Yuki as they slept. Aoba would pester Noiz in the mornings by telling him that the rabbits needed proper sleep, too, and it wasn’t healthy for them to be kept up late by Noiz longing to pet them and watch them.

But did Noiz care? No.

Aoba worried if Noiz continued this habit, the rabbits and Noiz would both become intolerable to be around—Noiz from sleep deprivation, and the rabbits from being over-pampered. He had to stop this before it propelled further.

He sauntered down the hallway to Noiz’s study, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Light seeped out from underneath the crack of the door, filling the hall with a faint light that only left grey impressions on the features of the hall. Nudging his shoulder against the wood it opened with compliance.

Aoba found his husband curled up on the floor, in only a T-shirt and boxer shorts, with the two rabbits sat upon his chest as he played with them. Aoba shut his eyes as the light seared his vision, slowly acclimating to the brightness, reopening to see Noiz staring at him.

“ _What?_ ” Noiz’s mouth was pulled down in a frown. He looked like a child caught in the guilty act of doing something his parent had warned him not to do.

His vision was blurry but he could see Noiz’s scowl deepen as he sat up. He held Yuki to his chest as Meike crawled out of Noiz’s lap to her pen.  
“What are you doing?” Aoba hissed, glaring down at his husband.  
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Noiz replied in deadpan.  
“Keeping your rabbits awake later than they should be, is what it looks like.” Aoba paused, eyes flitting away from Noiz over to Meike, who was now burying her face into a corner of her sleeping area, trying to wade out the light to try and fall asleep.  
“They’re tired, can’t you see?  
“Yeah, but…” Noiz mouth still hung open, but instead he sighed. He rose from the floor, being extremely careful as he adjusted Yuki in his arms, settling her in beside Meike. Noiz lingered over the pen as he watched them get comfortable and try to fall asleep.

Noiz turned to look at Aoba, guilt ridden over his face. He was kneading his teeth into his lower lip and his brows were scrunched together with remorse—he looked absolutely adorable. Aoba noticed even further dark ringlets underneath Noiz’s eyes from lack of proper sleep. He shuffled away from the rabbit pen to Aoba, bending down to press his forehead against Aoba’s shoulder.

“Okay, you’re right,” Noiz reluctantly admitted. “The rabbits need to sleep. I’m sorry.”  
Aoba laughed softly, squeezing Noiz’s hand a little tighter. “Don’t be sorry to me, be sorry to the rabbits. Not only do the rabbits need sleep, _you_ need sleep. C’mon, let’s go to bed.”

*

Aoba stirred. It was 4 AM. He had only slept for an hour after forcing Noiz to come back to bed with him. The room was aglow with a soft, neon green light.

He lifted his head from the pillow over to Noiz, trying to find the culprit of the phantasmal light and to see if he was asleep. Which he was not. Noiz was sitting upright in bed as he tinkered with his Coil, rifling through articles and websites so quickly the speed almost made Aoba nauseous. Noiz was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t notice Aoba stir beside him.

That is, until Aoba slapped Noiz’s bare arm hard, speaking bitterly in a half-awakened stupor.

“Go to sleep, you idiot!” Aoba hissed as he turned back around, burying his face into the pillow. Noiz nudged Aoba in his side, rolling him back around to face him. Aoba narrowed his eyes.  
“Okay, okay, I will,” Noiz said, voice thick with his exhaustion. The idiot was going to make himself sick from not sleeping properly. Suddenly his eyes brightened as he started back up his Coil.

“But just… just look at this!” he exclaimed, face lit up with glee. He presented the hologram website out for Aoba to look at.

On the screen was a website for rabbit outfits – frilly, garish pink outfits only big enough to fit around a rabbit.

“Are you serious,” Aoba muttered underneath his breath.  
“ _What?_ ” Noiz said, tone comically annoyed. “Wouldn’t Meike and Yuki look cute in these? Plus! Hey have different styles—formal wear, casual wear, even cosplay. Look!”  
Noiz continued to try go show Aoba different rabbit outfits, but with a look of annoyance Aoba shut off Noiz’s Coil instead. Aoba turned back around, burying himself in the blankets. He nudged Noiz hard on the side of his ribs, satisfied when he heard a low groan spill out of his husband’s mouth.

“Go to bed, you big idiot,” Aoba mumbled as he began to drift back to sleep, tone vaguely softer as he felt Noiz’s arms wind around his waist.

*

It had only been a month since Aba brought the rabbits into their home, and they had begun to follow a routine where the rabbits would be free to roam their apartment in the mornings while Noiz prepared for work, later in the afternoon when Aoba was home alone with them, and later in the day after dinner.  
Aoba didn’t realize that as he let the rabbits roam their apartment in the mid-day, he had left the front door slightly ajar. Meike, curious as she could be, then hopped out the front door down their apartment hallway. She had made it to the second floor by hobbling down the steps before a small dog whose owner let it roam aimlessly through their apartment complex found Meike.  
The rabbit was so startled it had a heart attack, and quickly died.

Aoba wasn’t aware that Meike had gone missing until Noiz arrived home, and asked him where she had gone. Springing in panic, the two then scrambled around their apartment trying to find Meike, and when they came up empty, extended their search to the entire apartment.  
A stern old woman had found the rabbit before Noiz and Aoba did, and dumped the carcass out into the streets to let feral dogs gnaw at it. While Noiz was searching the main floor he caught sight of Meike, lying on her side, entirely still. He called Aoba down on his Coil, and when Aoba saw the body, he immediately broke out into a sob.

Noiz had to carry him back up the flights of stairs back to their apartment, trying all the while not to break down crying himself. Aoba now sat on the edge of their bed, saying _This is all my fault_ over and over continually, bawling with his face cocooned in his hands while Noiz tried to console him.

“No, it’s not, Aoba,” Noiz said sternly. He massaged small circles into Aoba’s back as he continued to sob. He was despondent and heartbroken—how could he not be?— and it was unfortunate, but it was fate. Noiz had accidentally scared a rabbit he had when he was a child to death. He saw it at once teeming with life, to staring lifelessly up at the ceiling. Death was nothing new to Noiz, but it still stung.  
But seeing Aoba cry made it sting even harder. With caution Noiz moved Aoba’s hands away from his face, swinging Aoba’s jaw upwards so his raw, bloodshot eyes glazed over with tears stared up at into Noiz’s.

“Listen, Aoba,” Noiz said, in a sympathetic, gentle tone. “It _wasn’t your fault._ It was an accident, okay? Just an accident. It’s okay, it’s alright.”  
As he pulled Aoba into a hug he repeated his words over and over, hoping that maybe with enough conviction they would miraculously become true.

The next couple of weeks were rough after that, with Aoba still wracked with guilt and the two of them in mourning.

***

After Meike’s accidental death, Noiz had been acting extremely cautious to ensure that Yuki didn’t bear the same fate. He was even gentler around the rabbit than he had been before, nearly verging on fretting to pick up the rabbit and hold her due to frightening her so much. He set up elaborate gates and pens throughout every section of their apartment to be certain that Yuki couldn’t run out the front door without anyone noticing. After Meike’s death, Yuki was physically distraught—she would barely eat any food or drink any water. She remained curled up in the corner of the pen, eyes staring despondently around, trying to find her companion. So Noiz spent almost every moment he had free with her; when Noiz and Aoba were curled up in bed he would hold her in his arms, petting her, cooing words of affection at the rabbit until she slowly began to open up to him again.

The thought had been rolling around in head for a long time now—probably upwards to 6 months after he bought the rabbits for Noiz. Seeing his husband so concerned over some living thing that wasn’t Aoba made _something_ in Aoba spark to life. It was a longing feeling, like yearning for something that isn’t quite known yet. It was strange to him, and even stranger to admit to himself what that feeling was.

It wasn’t entirely out of the question—was it?

There were couples just like Noiz and Aoba who had them—he knew that.

Noiz loved Yuki like she was his child— so why wouldn’t he want one?

Tentatively Aoba opened the door to Noiz’s office, the door making a soft groaning noise as it was forced open. Noiz was at his desk, eyes scanning over a document paid out on a holograph on his Coil, one hand writing occasional notes, the other hand petting the white and black rabbit curled up on the desk in front of Noiz. He was so engrossed in his work Noiz barely even noticed that his husband had opened the door, save for when he caught a glimpse of blue in his peripheral.

“Hey, Aoba,” Noiz said, voice husky with exhaustion. He picked up Yuki, setting her on his lap. He swiveled in his chair to better catch sight of Aoba, petting the rabbit softly. “Is dinner ready?”  
“Yeah, it is, but… uh.”  
Aoba rested his hip against the frame of the door. He bit into the flesh of his lower lip.  
“Hey, I have a question.”  
“What’s that?”

“Um… so. Y-you’ve really been so good with Yuki, y-you know, better than I thought you would be, even. Surprising, really, I would have thought you’d be so… bad with rabbits. S-Shit, no, I didn’t mean that… I mean… I… I was wondering…” Aoba grew silent, letting out a groan with his own incompetence to fill his words with conviction.

Like undertaken like a ferocious tempest he moved forward, clutching Noiz’s shoulders with his hands as he kissed him with tenacity.  
He then broke apart, staring into Noiz’s eyes with firm resolve, as he said:

“Let’s.. let’s have a kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cr1TiKaL voice* Well that’s the end of this fic. Remember to comment the fic, leave kudos on the fic, and bookmark if you want to read fics similar to this one. See ya.
> 
> [Fran](http://keepcalmkeepdrawing.tumblr.com/%22) was sweet enough to do some sketches, which are all above. ヽ(；▽；)ノ Thank you so much. <33


	7. Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Aoba's first experience with snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part of a trade w/ [Fran](http://archiveofourown.org/users/yunamoonflower) :D  
> I wrote this in lieu of one of her latest dMMd 69 min comics because it's ADORABLE -- and it's posted below.

 

Winter advanced upon Germany in waves.

First the temperature plummeted. Ears burned in the cold and breath hung like smog around people’s faces. The glass of windows had upon them a thin sheen of ice in the dastardly cold mornings.

Then a frost came. It clung to the grass, to the branches of evergreens, and to the wires on telephone lines. By the late-morning sun, all traces of their existence were wiped clean, but in the dawn, they sparkled like phantasmal glitter as the waking sun danced across them.

And then the snow fell.

Aoba mulled around in the kitchen, finishing off the last remaining components of dinner. He insisted that Noiz try a various assortment of food—“To know more about the world, and to be healthier, you idiot!” Aoba quipped at Noiz when he whined about one particular dish with far too many greens for Noiz’s liking.  
However, Aoba was by no means skilled in the kitchen. Most of the meals he intended to make—like roasts or homemade soups—ended up either too bitter or too bland. Noiz never complained much, despite his abhorrence, appreciating the time and dedication Aoba took in trying to feed him a balanced diet. To his satisfaction, though, Aoba would be so distraught over how terrible his meals were that he would insist on ordering pizza instead.

But slowly and surely he was improving. Once a week during their video calls, Tae would walk Aoba through preparing one of her traditional meals, and Ren was always at his side, helping him be certain he was following recipes correctly.  
Tonight he went out on a whim and tried cooking something he had never dared to touch before: tofu. The recipe he was following told him he needed to set the tofu on paper towels for two hours to dry, but he skipped that step to preserve time.  
Now the cubes were sticking to the frying pan; when Aoba nudged the tofu with his spatula, it barely even budged.

Aoba cursed under his breath. He dipped his fingers into the frying pan and prodded at a cube of tofu. The outside was charred and sticky but it was stull rubbery and bounced against his fingertip.

“Ren,” he whined, glancing to the ball of fluff sitting on the kitchen stove next to a pile of spices and ingredients. He switched off the stove and turned to his AllMate, scooping him up in his arms. He sighed.  
“Is there any way I can fix this? I messed it up terribly.”  
He turned Ren around, holding him in front of the steaming frying pan. The Pomeranian remained silent for a while as it contemplated.  
“Hmmm… I do not believe that it can be fixed, Aoba. You burned the tofu and didn’t drain it properly, so it couldn’t absorb any flavor.”  
“ _Really?”_ Aoba let out a deep sigh. He set Ren down on the ground then removed the pan off the stove, head hung. He muttered out loud to himself as he carried the pan to the sink.  
“I thought I was getting in the hang of cooking… now I’ve got to order something else. I should go tell Noi— _oh!”_  
Aoba lifted his gaze up from the pan to the window that hung above the kitchen sink and gasped in surprise.

“Noiz!” he called out into the apartment, grinning. “Noiz, come here. Look!”  
After a moment he heard the sound of footsteps padding against the hardwood. Noiz appeared in the door of the kitchen in his white button-down and loosened tie. He sniffed at the air with an acrid look on his face.  
“What is it?” he asked, his tone dry. Then as an afterthought, he added: “And what the _hell_ are you cooking? It smells terrible.”  
“Never mind that, come here!” Enthusiastically Aoba grabbed Noiz’s arm, dragging him in front of the window beside him. He pointed to the scenery outside; in the darkness of night, a flurry of white moved like the grain of static on a television.  
“Look… _snow!”_  
“Yeah… so? It’s just snow.”  
Aoba pulled a frown, glaring at his boyfriend as he elbowed him in the side.  
“I’ve never seen snow before. At least _try_ to be happy for me. Jeesh.”  
“Snow’s honestly not that great… I don’t remember it being anything but a nuisance. You always have to go out in a bunch of layers of clothes.”  
“Really?”  
“Well, yeah, Aoba. Snow’s cold.”  
“But… you don’t know what snow _feels_ like, do you?”  
“Nope.”  
“Do you want do?”  
“… I don’t like cold. But you want to know what snow is like, don’t you?”  
Aoba nodded.  
“Well then, it’s fine. Tomorrow let’s go out to Englischer Garten.”  
Noiz paused, his scowl growing deeper.  
“Okay, Aoba. Seriously. What are you trying to cook? It smells terrible in here.”  
“Well… I tried to cook tofu and I messed it up. A lot.”  
“That’s your first mistake, Aoba. Only people who hate themselves _want_ to eat tofu. How bad did you ruin it?”  
Noiz glanced down into the sink at the pan lying there. He clicked his tongue against as his teeth as he surveyed the heap of burned beige cubes.  
“Yeah,” Noiz said with a chuckle. “You really did ruin it.”

He leaned over and kissed Aoba fondly on the cheek before stepping away, bringing up a hologram screen on his Coil.  
“This means I can order dinner, then?”  
He took Aoba’s annoyed groan as a yes.

*

“God, it’s _cold_ ,” Noiz sighed. Nature accentuated his statement by lingering his breath in a misty fog. He pulled his maroon scarf tighter around his neck and around his chin. By his side, Aoba reciprocated the sentiment by shivering slightly and tugging his jacket tighter around himself. The rosy color of his scarf made the flush in Aoba’s cheeks more predominant.

It wasn’t even that cold, it had only been cold enough for flakes to fall instead of raindrops, and the snow only permeated because the temperature lingered right below freezing.  
The pathway they were walking on snaked around a river, which hadn’t frozen over yet and birds were still lapping in its waters. The sun shone high overhead, making the pure, untouched patches of snow glitter when they caught the sun’s light. Where the snow had been brushed away to clear the sidewalk the green grass still stuck out from its dustings of snow.  
People they passed by to Englischer Garten were wearing much less to accommodate the cold, but for the two of them who had never experienced snow before, it was _freezing_. They had learned to acclimate as the temperature fell, but the chill that hung around the snow froze them to the core.

“It’s so cold,” Aoba whined, repeating Noiz’s words with an air of disdain. He rubbed his mitted hands together.  
“You want to go home, then?” Noiz asked. He had asked this a couple of times already but each time Aoba turned them down. Again, Aoba shook his head with a soft snort.  
“Of course not! Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean I don’t like it. It’s just… different. All the movies I’d seen never made it out to be this cold.”  
“It snows in Japan though, doesn’t it?”  
“It does up north, but not in Midorijima.”  
“Mmm… strange. I always remember growing up with snow. It’s annoying. Watch this.”

At this point Noiz veered off the path of the road and into the snow. As he broke the pristine blanket of white, the ground crunched as it gave out under his weight.  
A faintly cold sensation ran through his feet caught Noiz’s attention. It was a hollow cold, indescribable.  
He brushed this off, however, by lifting his leg up and kicking a powder of snow in Aoba’s direction.  
“Come on, then,” he said, repeating the action again, making Aoba jump away with a glare. “You wanted to come out and see what snow’s like, and here it is. Don’t be shy.”

Hesitatingly Aoba pressed his heel into the snow, then followed Noiz’s suit by walking further and further into the ground. He knelt down and marveled at the glistening white.  
“Did you ever play in the snow as a kid?” Aoba muttered off handedly, partially regretting asking as soon as the words spilled from his lips.  
“I did,” Noiz replied before Aoba could take back his words. He sighed and kicked up a bit more of the snow, watching at the flakes fell back to the ground. “Before… well, you know… I would play outside with my brother. We would throw snowballs at one another, but I always got too violent and accidentally hit him too hard. After a while he never really asked me to anymore.”  
“Oh.”  
Noiz sounded so carefree spilling these words out, and it made Aoba’s heart sting. He wanted to reach out to hug Noiz and console him, but Noiz would instead ask what he was doing by going out and hugging him in public. Instead an idea popped to mind.

“Wait here,” he said, skirting off a couple feet away, the uncharted snow lining his footsteps along the way. Noiz watched him leave with a fond sigh, turning his attention back to the snow at his feet.  
He had never known what snow felt like. He couldn’t understand why his brother complained when winter rolled around and why people bundled up in the cold.  
He knew why now—but he still didn’t understand snow.  
Noiz knelt down to his haunches, slipping off one of his gloves and tucking it into his coat pocket. Hesitatingly he reached outwards, scooping a handful of snow into his palm.  
His natural inclination was to let the snow drop from his hand— which he did. He was prepared for the cold, but the numbness it left on his hand caught him off guard. Though it was cold, it felt like his skin was burning.  
He watched as the remnants of snow melted in his palm from his body’s heat. It was _cold_ and felt strange— the texture was uncannily rough for something that was supposed to be made out of water.  
And his fingertips still felt numbed with the cold, but it wasn’t bad.  
A plummet of breath escaped his lips as he reached back down again and scooped up more snow, bracing himself for how cold it was this time. He watched at it slowly melted and evaporated into water in his hand. The crunching of snow turned his attention away and he heard mischievous laughter.

“Oy, Noiz!”  
Noiz turned to where Aoba’s voice was calling for him, somewhere in the distance.  
“Wh—”  
 _Thwack!_

Before Noiz could even react, his vision turned white and his face immediately numbed with cold.  
“Haha, sorry!” Aoba breathed, rushing forward. “I didn’t mean to get you in the face.”  
However, he was already bending down again, scooping snow into his palms and molding it into a ball. Before Noiz could even react another snowball was sent hurtling towards him. Aoba snickered at it directly hit Noiz in the chest.  
“Aoba, you bastard!” Noiz said, breaking out into laughter as he quickly brushed himself off.

Noiz quickly slipped his glove back on and reached downwards, molding a heaping pile of snow into a ball and hurdling it in Aoba’s direction before he could make another snowball. It hit him directly in the jaw, knocking him backwards for a second, as he exclaimed with the cold.

Their petty fight continued until Noiz decided to take matters into his own hands; he rushed forward and pinned his weight on top of Aoba, sending the two of them collapsing into the flurry of snow. Noiz pinned Aoba down, holding him captive against the snow.

“Ahh, it’s so _cold_!” he hissed, trying to worm out of Noiz’s grip—but to no avail. He was, however, able to collect a handful of snow and pour it over Noiz’s exposed neck. When he gasped in surprise Aoba switched their positions, holding Noiz down into the snow instead.  
They both shivered and reeled with laughter until their stomachs hurt. Aoba reached down to press a kiss to Noiz’s lips before peeling off of him.

They walked home huddled close to one another, grappling for each other's body heat in an attempt to keep warm. While they shivered, they laughed jovially at one another's cherry red faces and snow dusted through one another's hair.  
Noiz did not like the cold at all, which was clear now. He didn't like how the cold wind made his nose run, or how it made his hands numb, or how bulky all the clothing he needed to not freeze were.  
But after 19 years, he was able to know what cold felt like.  
And he didn’t have to be alone, he had Aoba. And he didn’t know what this sort of cold was like, either. They were learning together.  
And together they could complain about the weather. And together they stay cuddled up in one another's warmth.  
Being able to feel the cold was a gift that Aoba had given him. And for that, he was eternally grateful.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Englischer Garten is a large park in Munich that translates to "English Garden."
> 
> Ahh... I do apologize. I wanted this to be longer, but I had a little relapse in mental illness stuff and it made it really hard to write... BUT I really wanted to write something for Fran's art because it's adorable <3  
> also p.s.: tofu is one of my favorite foods, so I'm just taking the piss on myself in the beginning part, haha


	8. Aminals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Aoba take their son to the zoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I belated piece for OTP day... I accidentally missed it by a day, whoops! I managed to write this up, however.  
> As I mentioned, all the pieces in this collection are not in chronological order, but this one falls after Chapter 6. It is before one of my other fics-- [Rainy Day](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2539352)\-- which you can read to know more about their son Lukas.  
> Now I've rambled off far too long... enjoy!

"Noch 5 Minuten!!"  
"Aber, Outosan--"  
"Nix, aber. Ab, jetzt, zack zack!"”

Aoba watched on as his son scurried away once more. The boy swung open the metal door to the aviary, the chirping of various birds wavering out as the door fell shut behind Lukas. Aoba heaved a loving but tired sigh as he leaned a metal rail supporting the awning he was standing under.

Noiz had taken the day off from work and insisted that they take their son to Hellabrunn Park this afternoon as an early birthday gift. Their son was three and was about to turn four next week. Earlier in the morning, when the temperature was cool, the idea seemed welcoming, but now in the sweltering heat of summer Aoba was thinking otherwise. There wasn’t even a breeze to help accompany the thicket of heat.

Aoba had to excuse himself from the aviary because the smell of bird feed combined with the humid head was making his head spin.  
He awoke from nauseated daze as he heard the sound of shoes clicking against the concrete. He glanced up and caught sight of his husband.  
Noiz had been ambling up the path to where they were at, having stolen himself away a couple minutes ago to use the bathroom. Due to the surprised look on his face, he seemed to have caught word of their brief conversation.

“Speaking German, that’s unusual,” he said in Japanese, clicking his tongue. “Practicing with Lukas?”  
Aoba nodded. “He’s is going into preschool soon and I want to make sure he’s comfortable speaking it.”  
Noiz upturned the corner of his mouth in a faint, tender smile. He broke his eyes away from Aoba towards the aviary.  
“Is Lukas in there?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Why aren’t you?”

Aoba sighed, then turned his head to catch the sunlight, showing how sweat glistened upon his skin.  
“Don’t worry, I told him he only has a couple more minutes. I was just in there and there was hardly anyone. I trust him to be smart.”  
Aoba let out an exasperated sigh, fanning himself off with the zoo’s map he had in hand before continuing. “Besides-- they make those aviaries so damn humid that it's impossible to stay in them very long."  
"Is that so?" Noiz mused, leaning in close, pinning Aoba closer against the metal pole. "Or maybe… you are getting old and you can’t stand the heat any longer."  
Aoba narrowed his eyes, frowning.  
“What?” Noiz asked.  
“I’m only _thirty_ , dammit. I am _not_ old.”  
“That’s pretty old. Practically senile.”

Noiz leaned even closer in, a childish grin budding on his lips. His eyes were intent on Aoba’s lips, verging closer and closer towards their lips meeting one another’s. Aoba turned his head away, still managing to blush after all these years of Noiz’s teasing.  
“I-Idiot… there are people around.”  
“I don’t care.”  
“Noiz—we are at a _zoo._ ” Aoba retorted. He pushed Noiz away with a great deal of force. “There is a time and a place for everything, and right now is not the time.”  
“You’re such a killjoy, Aoba,” Noiz whined.  
Aoba opened his mouth to reply but the door to the aviary snapped open and a small, blue haired figured rushed out. Lukas emerged in the doorway, face pale with a look of fright. He stared directly at his fathers and tears began to make his eyes glisten.

“I… I…” he mewled weakly. He ran forwards and clung tight onto the front of Aoba’s shirt.  
“What’s wrong?” he asked, voice awash with concern. He ran his hands through Lukas’ hair, comforting him.  
“I… I forget about the tigers…” he sniffled, tiny palms balling up the fabric of Aoba’s shirt. “W-Who knows if they’re out right now… b-but… I wanted to go get ice cream, a-and…”  
He continued to weep softly, burying his face in Aoba’s shirt.

Lukas was fond of all animals—he adored Yuki just as much as Noiz did and adored Ren, even if he was robotic—but his favorite animal was the Bengal tiger. He had a collection of stuffed tigers and drew crayon caricatures of tigers he had seen in picture books. The countless number of times Lukas begged his parents to take him to the zoo always led with him veering to the tiger’s exhibit before stopping and looking at the other animals. Which they didn’t mind, but it made Lukas through the duration of their visit to the zoo bored and uninterested. This time was different; Noiz and Aoba forced Lukas to enjoy every animal before going to see the tigers.

Noiz and Aoba both sighed collectively and met their eyes. They spoke wordlessly, able to read one another’s thoughts with as much a gesture. Noiz reached down then, gingerly peeling Lukas away from Aoba’s shirt front. He lifted him into his arms and wiped away his son’s tears.

“I’ll go take you to the tigers, Lukas. Aoba will go get ice cream and meet us up there… right?”  
He glanced upwards, looking up to Aoba for approval; he nodded. Noiz grinned, kissing his son’s cheek to reassure him. Then they left, Noiz asking Lukas all sorts of questions about tigers, Lukas answering them excitedly.

*

Aoba wandered around aimlessly through the attractions of animals—past rhinoceros and gazelle, all basking in the summer sun. The ice cream in Aoba’s hand was beginning to melt, trailing down his hand, leaving it feeling sticky and tacky against his skin when he licked it away.

He was afraid he had gotten lost somewhere—perhaps having taken a wrong turn, or headed in the completely different direction than the tiger exhibit. He had given the map to Noiz and, for the life of him, he could not find a map telling him where he was in the zoo.  
He was nearly on the brink of crying when he heard it.

A loud, powerful roar like a thunderclap echoed through the air.

Aoba gasped at the sound—he nearly dropped the melting cone in his hand as he jumped. He wasn’t far away at all, he could tell that much. Elatedly he followed the sound of the roar, ambling past crowds of people and dozing animals.

He made it to the tiger’s exhibit out of breath and exhausted. There were several people around all admiring the regal beast perched high above on a rock pillar, panting with the summer heat and scrutinizing its onlookers below.  
Aoba searched around the crowds of people until he found, near the very back in the shade of a tree, the distinguishable blue hair of his son.

Lukas was up in the air, clasped between Noiz’s arms. He was pulling on the lobes of his ears, grinning maniacally when Noiz’s face twisted in pain as he tugged. Noiz’s mouth was downturned in a scowl but there was an amused light toying in his eyes.

In the tiger’s den, the large creature boomed loudly again. Lukas’ eyes snapped directly towards the sound, laughing jovially with delight.

Lukas pulled his hands away and twisted himself in Noiz’s arms so they were face to face. He bared his starfish-like palms out, baring his fingers out like the claws of the large feline in its cage behind them.  
He pulled his lips backwards and bared his teeth.  
“ _Grrr_!” He roared impishly at his father, mimicking the bellow from the tiger. He roared again, though it quickly dissipated into laughter as Noiz began tickling his son’s sides.  
At the same time, he showered Lukas’ face with brief kisses, laughing alongside as his son giggled at the ticklish brush of his father’s lips. He splayed out his hand in the same fashion Lukas had.  
“ _Grrr_!” Noiz growled back, grinning. The two roared and growled at one another, breaking into laughter as Noiz tickled him again.

Aoba watched on in silent reverence, capturing an intimate glimpse between his son and his husband. Their combined look of joy made Aoba’s heart heavy, knowing that they loved one another just as much as he loved them. Seeing Noiz grin without any reservations nearly brought him to tears.

He broke himself out of his trance, walking towards his husband and son. Their laughter died down as they turned their direction towards him—Lukas with admiration, Noiz with love.

“Did you hear the tiger!?” Lukas shouted enthusiastically, pointing to the beast above.  
“Of course! How could I not?” Aoba replied.  
“I want to be able to roar like that someday.”  
Noiz laughed, butting in. “You’ve got a pretty good start so far. _Grrr_.”  
He bared his teeth and snarled at his son again. Lukas snickered.  
“It’s all melted,” Lukas said out of the blue, pointing to the cone In Aoba’s hands.  
“I know, I’m sorry,” Aoba said. Nonetheless he offered it out to him. “It’s just so hot.”  
“That’s okay, Outosan. _Danke_.”

He reached out and took the cone, having to hold it between two hands. He lapped up what was melting down the cone’s sides. Noiz reached out, licking the ice cream and taking a bite out of the sugar cone. Lukas whined in annoyance and tugged at Noiz’s earlobe again. He winced with pain and Aoba laughed.

“Okay, you two. Ready to go home?”  
They nodded.

Lukas spent the rest of the day rushing up to Noiz and Aoba, pulling his tiger impersonation, grinning with satisfaction when his parents laughed at him and roared back.

 

***

Noiz pulled Lukas’ bedroom door closed with a soft _click_. In the hallway, Aoba watched on expectantly, waiting for the look of affirmation on Noiz’ face.  
“Yeah, he’s asleep,” Noiz whispered.

And like that, the breath they held between them was expelled. They finally had the ample silence they both yearned for—they both adored their son, but once they had grown weak and weary from his hyperactive nature they were both exhausted.  
“Mmm, I’m so tired,” Aoba muttered. “What a… long… day…”  
He folded his arms across his chest, pinning his hoodie closer to his body. He yawned and leaned forward, resting his head on Noiz’s chest.  
Noiz laughed. “Don’t fall asleep on me here in the hallway, Aoba. C’mon.”  
He scooped Aoba up into his arms without any note of complaint from the blue haired man. He carried him bridal style to their bedroom, then tucked him their bed.

“… Really likes… tigers… doesn’t he?” he mumbled into his pillow.  
“He sure does,” Noiz replied, humoring his dozing husband. He wrapped the sheets around Aoba’s body, then curled his arms around Aoba, resting his head against his husband’s exposed neck.  
“We should get him a tiger AllMate…” Aoba said weakly. His body seized up, then with more conviction he continued. “No… no we shouldn’t…”  
Noiz laughed as he listened in on Aoba debate between himself, voice growing weaker with every word he mumbled. He heard Aoba grumble one final thing before he began to snore softly, but it was so quiet Noiz couldn’t hear it—something about Yuki being scared by tigers.

Noiz pressed his lips to Aoba’s neck before he drifted off to sleep, with Aoba cradled to his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conversation in the begining:  
> "Only five more minutes!"  
> "But, Outosan--"  
> "No but. Now go!"
> 
> Don't worry, I didn't accidentally misspell animals in the title, I took it directly from [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaWnEjHC8cM), which I got the inspiration for this whole piece~
> 
> Also P.S., I now have a [blog dedicated to my fics](http://seventhimpact.tumblr.com/); I'll probably update shorter pieces there more than here.


	9. Dream of Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cross-posting from tumblr; prompt: [Aoba] having a wet dream and calling the other’s name during it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if this has been obvious in all these one-shots, but all of these one-shots are supposed to be like a "time capsule" of Noiz and Aoba's favorite moments together.
> 
> And this one is just straight up porn lmao.  
> But there's a reason! I am REALLY proud of how this turned out. Every time I write porn and I'm about to post it I feel nervous like _Is this_ really _any good_? But I was really proud of this one! My ideas just came together really well, and I wrote this on a not-so-mentally-good day and I'm surprised that I was able to write something I was happy with. Thank you, Mellie, for the prompt.  <3

Aoba groaned loudly as he was pinned against the glass wall of their shower.  
His hands clawed against the glass as he felt Noiz drag his nails across his back—Aoba seized up with the expectant sting of pain, but found none. That troubling thought was diluted soon after when he felt Noiz close the gap between their bodies, hitched breathing warm and expectant in Aoba’s ear.

Noiz brought his hands away from Aoba’s back and rested one on Aoba’s hips. He separated his legs while the other wound around the hilt of his own cock, aligning it to Aoba’s ass.  
He pushed the entirety of his cock inside Aoba in one swift movement, making Aoba shriek and clutch onto the glass for support with the pressure.

And Noiz didn’t even bother to hesitate before moving, either, pounding hard and recklessly. There was no burn— just pleasure. Sweet, sweet pleasure that dulled Aoba’s thoughts, that made his legs weak as Noiz fucked him mercilessly.

“Noiz,” Aoba whimpered, throwing a look over his shoulder to the man unraveling him. “Noi—a... ah…”  
He hit him directly where he felt it most, the piercing on the tip of his cock pressing in hard. Aoba’s voice became lost in trembling moans, weakly crying out Noiz’s name over and over.

Suddenly Noiz stopped, halfway inside Aoba. The vibrations from Noiz’s violent trusts still rocked Aoba to his core.

“Aoba?” he heard Noiz’s voice call—however, it sounded drowned out and distant, like the sound of falling waves overshadowed his voice. But his lips were so close to his ear—close enough he could feel every intake of breath. Why did he sound so far away?  
He thrust in hard one more time, making Aoba lose his train of thought.

“Aoba?” Noiz called out again, this time louder, stronger. But it still sounded distant, like a ringing in his ears separated them.  
Nonetheless, Noiz snapped his hips and plunged in hard again and again, hitting Aoba right where he felt it most, quickly drawing him closer to the bridge. Moans spilled out of Aoba’s mouth, fogging up the glass, echoing against the walls of the bathroom.  
Noiz was going so fast— Aoba was already at the brink. He couldn’t think of anything besides the ecstasy coursing through him, all he could focus on was the sweetness building up in his hips.

“Noiz… I’m going…” he cried out weakly, moving one hand away from the wall to his cock, rubbing himself in time with Noiz’s movements. He repeated Noiz’s name again and again, crying out louder and louder as he was pulled to his climax. He clenched his eyes shut as he fell wont to the pleasure. “Noiz… N-Noiz… ah… Noiz!”

“Aoba!”

Aoba’s eyes snapped open, hands clawing at the sheets as he gasped for air. He peered around in the darkness, chest fluttering as he tried to regain his breath. He trying to make sense of what had happened or where he was.  
It was hard to tell in the darkness but he assumed he was in his bedroom, settled into bed with Noiz at his side.  
But he had just been in the shower…?  
And he was just about to cum, too. The sweetness was still rolling in his hips.

He felt arms around his waist and turned his head to the side; there was Noiz, cocooned in bed with him. He was wide awake and slightly leaning over Aoba, brows furrowed with worry—what little light came from Aoba’s digital alarm clock danced against Noiz’s eyes, intensifying the green.

“Aoba, are you okay?” Noiz asked. His voice was thick with concern and exhaustion. “You were moving around in your sleep and kept calling my name. Did you have a nightmare?”  
He leaned forward more, brushing a stray lock of hair off of Aoba’s cheek. His touch was gentle, his fingertips just barely brushing against his skin.

Aoba remained quiet as he mulled around in his thoughts. His mind was still fuzzy from being woken up and was trying to make sense of what had happened.  
He must have been dreaming, then, of Noiz fucking him hard in their shower. He bristled at the thought, burning with shame.

“Aoba,” Noiz called out again, gently, drawing Aoba away from his rampant thoughts. He took Aoba’s chin in his hand, sweeping his gaze towards his. “Is something wrong? Are you— _oh_?”  
Aoba’s face was visibly flushed and his breathing was labored. He glanced downwards to the sheets and noticed a distinct bulge around Aoba’s groin.

The worry left Noiz’s face and he broke into an impish grin.  
“Ohh… were you dreaming about me?” he teased, drawing his hand away from Aoba’s chin, tracing the sensitive flesh of his neck.  
He moved in, pressing his lips against Aoba’s.

“Want me to take care of that for you?”  
“Ah… i-it’s fine, I’ll do it,” Aoba stammered, burning red. He pushed Noiz away.  
“You sure?”  
“ _Yes_ , Noiz. It’s late. We have work in the morning. Go back to bed.”  
Noiz sighed. “Well I’m completely awake now. You could either let me do it for you, or you could do it yourself and imagine that it’s my hand jacking you off. So which will it be?”  
Aoba blushed and averted his eyes. Well, when he put it that way…

Aoba’s fight left him with a small sigh. He was desperate to come and didn’t care anymore. He opened his legs, providing ample room for Noiz’s hand to slip in.  
Noiz hummed with satisfaction. He drew himself closer to Aoba’s side and pulled the sheets away.

In a lewd gesture, Noiz licked the length of his palm to slicken his skin. He reached downwards and drew Aoba’s dick out of his underwear. The cooler air of their bedroom and the warmth of Noiz’s palm made Aoba gasp. He glanced down and gulped in surprise at just _how_ hard he was; he was almost entirely erect from dreaming alone.

“I wonder what you were dreaming about,” Noiz mumbled in Aoba’s ear, seeming to have the same train of thought as Aoba. “If it made you this hard just dreaming about it, I wonder what it would be like if I really did it to you.”  
Aoba glowered and turned his head away.

Noiz began to work him slowly. The movements of his hand were nice, but they were too gentle, too feather-light to do anything but to tease Aoba. Noiz was always hesitant to be forceful with Aoba, worrying that he may hurt him if he started rough. He realized just how gentle he was being as Aoba wasn’t reacting at all; he added more force to his movements, squeezing tighter as he ran his hand down the shaft. But it still wasn’t enough.

With a small sigh Noiz pulled his hand away and moved forward. With the lack of movement Aoba turned his head back to. “What…” he began. But he was quieted when Noiz pulled weight atop of Aoba, legs pinned on either side of his thighs.  
Aoba jerked with surprise, paling as Noiz’s face loomed in close to his.  
Noiz cupped his hand to Aoba’s cheek, stroking the side of his face with his thumb.

“It’s fine, don’t worry. Let me do this for you. Just lie down and relax.”  
Noiz’s movements were so tender and reassuring, gradually moving downwards until he was positioned above Aoba’s hips. He pulled Aoba’s underwear down to rest around his knees, his cock entirely exposed now.

Aoba felt anxiety ball up in his chest, watching Noiz expectantly as he brought his face closer and closer to his exposed cock. He took it in his hands, holding it in place.  
Noiz licked at the head, sucking away the precum at the opening. Aoba closed his eyes with the damp warmth, settling his head back into his pillow as Noiz slowly took his cock in his mouth.  
Aoba held his breath in his mouth, his body fighting with his mind—in equal parts loving the feel of Noiz’s mouth, but so embarrassed he couldn’t relax entirely.

Noiz noticed this and pulled his mouth off of Aoba.  
“Why are you embarrassed?” he whispered softly, his breath warm against Aoba’s sensitive skin. “It’s just a natural reaction, nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Aoba broke out into a nervous laugh. He lifted his head up, meeting Noiz’s eye.  
“You said something just like that before.”  
Noiz grinned. “I did, didn’t I? So just relax, Aoba. Don’t be embarrassed.”

Once Aoba seemed to settle down, Noiz resumed the work of working his mouth around Aoba’s dick. He traced his lips down his shaft as planted kisses down the underside of his length. The gestures were light and teasing, making Aoba hold his breath in anticipation.

Satisfied, Noiz took Aoba’s cock back into his mouth, taking no time to hesitate fitting as much of it in his mouth as he could. What he couldn’t take in he worked his hand around in time to the bobbing of his head. Occasionally he broke his movements to focus directly on the head more, running his tongue against the slit, sucking away precum and his spittle.

Aoba’s breathing hitched and grew heavier, weak moans sputtering out. His face was flushed red, mouth hung open and eyes half closed, gradually losing himself in the pleasure.

“Ah… N-Noiz, I’m going to…”  
Aoba reached downwards, grabbing Noiz’s hair to pull him away. Noiz continued to move despite the resistance, fitting Aoba back into his mouth. He took in as much of his length as he could and began to hum, knowing the vibrations would put Aoba over his edge.

“N… No! No… Noiz… I’m—!”  
His arguments died as he arched his back, crying out as Noiz sucked hard, urging him to cum. His vision turned white as pleasure ebbed from every part of his body, feeling as though floating. He felt Noiz’s throat constrict around his cock as he swallowed down Aoba’s cum.

Noiz broke apart with a loud pop, a tracery of combined spittle and semen tailing from his lips to Aoba’s dick. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and glanced upwards, smirking at the flushed face staring back at him.

“ _Better_?” he crooned huskily. Aoba smiled meekly as a response, then sighed softly as Noiz pulled his underwear back up around his waist.

Noiz settled against Aoba’s side, pulling him into his embrace. Aoba returned the hug, resting his head against Noiz’s chest, squirming softly when he buried his face into his hair. He sighed loudly as he buried his face into Noiz’s t-shirt.

“Aoba, what is it?” Noiz moved his head away from Aoba’s head of hair and craned his neck downwards to look at him. Aoba pulled away with a sigh, lips pulled downwards in a frown, and brows knit together in contemplation. “Did you not like it?”  
“No… I did, I just feel bad,” Aoba muttered against Noiz’s chest. “I didn’t do anything for you. It was all about me.”  
Noiz pulled a confused look, lips puckered together in a scowl. His tone was stern, but gentle.  
“Why is that a bad thing? I love you, Aoba, and I’d do anything you need… if it be sucking you off in the middle of the night or taking care of you when you’re sick. You mean the world to me, Aoba, and I would do anything for you.”

Aoba stayed silent at that, his words dying on his tongue. He sighed fondly and lifted his head up, kissing Noiz on his lips. He tasted vaguely bitter and acidic—the taste of his own semen, probably. He swallowed down that thought and leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together as he sighed.  
“Yeah, I know,” Aoba said. “I just… don’t want you feeling unsatisfied or whatever, always worrying about me and I never get to do the same for you—”  
Noiz cut him off with a loud sigh, shaking his head with a grin.  
“You think too much, honestly. But, I suppose…”  
He dropped his voice to his low, sultry croon.  
“If you want, you can suck me off tomorrow at work.”

Aoba face froze and he turned beet red. Noiz laughed as Aoba stammered, trying to formulate words to counter his brat’s arrogance. At a loss, he batted his hand against Noiz’s cheek softly before twisting around in bed, burying his face deep into his pillow to sheathe his embarrassment.

“ _Goodnight_ , Noiz,” Aoba muffled into his pillow.  
Noiz grinned as he pulled the sheets back over the two of them, settling into Aoba’s side. He wrapped his arms around Aoba’s waist, dragging him over to his side of the bed, drinking in Aoba’s warmth and the smell of his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, this is just one more reminder: you can find my writing blog right [here](http://seventhimpact.tumblr.com/). Thanks for reading!


	10. Brush it Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One night, Noiz offers to brush and braid Aoba's hair for him. The next morning, he wakes up to find something he wasn't expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A oneshot dedicated to reaching over 100 followers on my writing blog. Thank you SO MUCH for following. And of course, for reading. <3

Warm water pelted Aoba’s bare back as he stood backwards to the shower head, lathering his hands up with soap before bringing them to his head. He worked the shampoo through his long hair, being careful to wade out any tangles in his hair to not pull at them too hard.

He thought about what sort of pain it would have been like if he tried washing his hair like this before, when the slightest wrong touch made him wince. As he stuck his head underneath the showerhead and wiped the suds away, he wondered what the scalding hot water would have felt like on the sensitive locks. Nothing less than pure torture, he guessed.  
It was still jarring at just how much his life had changed since the last time he felt that sort of pain. He was living in Germany now—nearing close to 3 years now. He was a secretary for Noiz’s company and finally felt fluent enough in German to go and find a job of his own. And he could shower like this without any pain.   
All this and more because he met Noiz. All because he opened Noiz’s heart to give him the ability to feel.

As the sensation in his hair disappeared, Aoba discovered how nice it could be to play with his hair—or better yet, have Noiz play with his hair. Sometimes when Noiz was stuck to his hospital bed in Midorijima, he would ask if he could touch Aoba’s hair, wanting to know what it felt like. He came to love what Noiz’s hands felt like toying with his hair—when he twisted it around his fingers, when he tugged on it playfully, when he brought it to his mouth and kissed it.  
These gentle movements that would have had him writhing in agony now fully relaxed him—even now, he had nearly fallen asleep on Noiz once or twice when he insisted on washing his hair in joint bath sessions.

But he discovered on his own, too, things that he couldn’t have imagined before without precaution and the weakest of movements—most of all, in taking showers. Washing his hair always had a faint tinge of pain, nearly bringing him to tears when the pain was at its strongest points. Now it was just nice to stand underneath warm water, taking his time to lather and massage his scalp without being cautious of his every movement.

Aoba drew away from his thoughts, back to the real world where the shower’s water threatened to turn lukewarm if he didn’t step out soon enough. He turned off the shower with a satisfied sigh and wrung his hair out—another he couldn’t have done before without crying in pain. He grabbed a towel he had laid out for himself, which he used to dry his body off before wrapping it around his waist. He grabbed another dry towel and held it out, draping his hair down in a thick, wet veil in front of his eyes. He wrapped the towel around his hair and twisted it up, holding his drying it up in place on his head.

He glanced over his features in the mirror quickly, then stepped out of the steaming bathroom. The air from his lengthy shower had turned humid and made the air murky and thick against his skin. It made his lungs desperate as they drew in the heavy air. The coolness of the bedroom was a welcome relief as the thinner air filled his lungs.

He adjusted the towel around his torso, sheathing him, and held a hand steady on the towel wrapped around his head.  
Laying out on the bed, Aoba saw Noiz toying around with his Allmate, disinterestedly listening to it squeak enthusiastically as he worked on his Coil. The faint green light of the hologram illuminated Noiz’s face in the dim light of their bedroom. When Noiz saw Aoba moving out of his peripheral, he shut off his Coil and set the Usagimodoki cube on his bedside table, where it shut itself off into sleep mode.

“How was your shower?” Noiz asked while sitting up in bed.   
“Good.” Aoba tried keeping the towel balanced on his head upright, holding the stack of fabric balanced in his hands. “I love taking showers at night. So much better than in the morning.”   
“Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to fall asleep with wet hair when you have as much hair as you do?”  
“Hmm… not really. It’s kind of nice when it’s really hot like it is now. Though sometimes my hair will be everywhere when I wake up, but it’s whatever. You can’t really tell when I put it in a ponytail.”   
Noiz nodded. “Does your hair ever hurt like it used to?”   
“No, not really. At times it can be a little uncomfortable, but I like taking showers now and…”  
Aoba gave him a weak half smile. He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking over his shoulder to Noiz. A faint blush dusted his cheeks. “It feels good when you touch my hair.”  
“That so?”

Noiz returned the smile. He studied Aoba’s half naked body, eyes scanning over his exposed back and shoulders, and the strings of hair falling out around the nape of Aoba’s neck.  
His eyes flicked away to Aoba’s bedside table; he leaned over the bed and grabbed a hair brush Aoba had set there earlier.

“Hey, Aoba,” Noiz said, kneeling into the center of the bed closer to his boyfriend. “Let me brush your hair tonight.”   
“Uh… why right now?”   
“I’ve felt like doing it for a while. Just never asked. Is that alright?”   
“Yeah, that’s fine... I guess. C’mere then.” Aoba patted the empty space of bed behind him, beckoning Noiz over to.

Noiz picked himself up and moved so he was nestled behind Aoba. He sat down with his legs crossed, the fabric of his pants brushing against Aoba’s bare back.

“Are you cold?” Noiz’s fingertips danced across Aoba’s bare arms, feeling the exposed bumps signifying nervousness. “Your skin is covered with goosebumps.”   
“Ah… it’s just a little cold in here, that’s all.”   
“Want me to turn the AC down?”   
“No, no… it’s fine. It feels good. The shower was really hot.”

Noiz nodded, then unwrapped the towel from Aoba’s head. His damp hair fell downwards over his shoulders and across his bare back. He ran his hands gingerly through it, sorting out the tangled areas while wringing out excess water. It was cold and strange sort of damp, but he didn’t mind it much. He had washed Aoba’s hair when they had taken showers together several times before. But this was something he had never entirely noticed before— when Aoba immediately got out of the shower, it liked to stick together in large damp clumps, like strands of seaweed on the ocean floor. He grabbed one of the locks and pinched it, squeezing the water out and down his palm. He brought it to his lips, kissing the ends gently before focusing his attention to the rest of Aoba’s hair.  
The tips of his fingers inadvertently skirted over Aoba’s skin, making the bumps flare up on his skin even worse. Noiz chuckled.   
“Not nervous, are you?” His breath was warm on the back of his ears, with the intent to tease.   
“No, o-of course I’m not nervous,” Aoba said, laughing despite himself. “What do I need to be worried about?”   
“Exactly.”

Noiz lifted Aoba’s damp hair and pressed a soft kiss to the nape of his neck. Aoba squirmed and hissed something about calling him a _little brat_ before growing quiet, letting Noiz work.  
The younger grabbed the brush sitting in his lap and began to work it through Aoba’s hair. He brushed slowly at first, slowly more pressure into his brushing. He used his hands and the brush interchangeably through different portions down from his scalp to the ends.

The brush caught on a large snag—Aoba’s hair resisted the motion of the brush and Noiz pulled unintentionally hard. Aoba whimpered weakly with the pain, flinching from the dull throb.   
“O-ow! That really hurt,” he mumbled while rubbing the spot on his head where his hair was pulled.   
“I know,” Noiz replied. He tossed the brush down and wrapped Aoba into a one-armed hug. “Didn’t mean to. I can kiss it better if you want.”   
Aoba sighed. “Y-You don’t… it’s not so bad. Just… be more careful, okay? If you can see that it’s tangled, work it slowly. Like this.”

Aoba twisted around and grabbed the brush, then the tangled mess. He weaved his long fingers through his hair and gently pulled against where the strands were tangled up the most. Slowly they fell privy to the prying and loosened up the tangles. Then he brought the brush up to the remaining clumps and brushed them out. He ran his fingers through the length of his hair to affirm that the snares were gone.

“There. Just like that,” Aoba said while returning the brush back to Noiz. “I kind of already got them out but… for next time.”   
“Next time?” Noiz asked with a soft smile. “Do you like me brushing your hair, then?”   
Aoba smiled weakly. “W-Well, of course. You really— _nh_.”

Aoba cut himself off as another shiver ran up his spine—Noiz had brushed his hair to the side again; he kissed the gap between his shoulder blades, dragging his lips along his faintly damp skin as he settled back into place behind Aoba.   
“What are you doing that for, idiot,” Aoba hissed, turning to glare at Noiz. He smirked while working his hands through Aoba’s tresses, wrapping his fingers around strands, playing with it fondly.   
“Sorry,” Noiz said, without any ingenuity in his voice. He met Aoba’s eye and his voice dropped into a huskier whisper. “You’re naked in front of me. I just can’t hold myself back very well.”   
“You…” Aoba said with an eye roll. To give a meagre amount of what Noiz craved, he rolled his hips backwards, making the rough fabric of his towel brush against the front of Noiz’s pants.  
“Just finish brushing my hair first.”

“Fine, fine,” Noiz said with a beaten sigh. He ran the brush through Aoba’s hair a couple more times, smoothing it down until it was silky and shimmered in the dim golden light of their bedside lamps. After a while Aoba’s eyelids grew heavy, having dipped into complete relaxation underneath Noiz’s hands. He let them fall closed the soft bristles of the brush, along with Noiz’s hands, urged him into a tranquil daze.

After a while, the brush moved away from Aoba’s scalp. So did Noiz’s hands, with a soft sigh.  
Without the touch of Noiz’s hands on Aoba’s bare body on his hair, Aoba turned around to see what Noiz was doing.   
He was on his Coil, typing away at a holographic keyboard as images and text appeared hovering before him on another screen. He felt eyes on him and he lifted his attention, arching one of his eyebrows up at Aoba pulled a look at him.   
“What?” he asked.   
“What are you doing?”   
“Pulling up a tutorial. I’m going to braid your hair.”

Aoba blinked, uncertain. “A-Alright.”  
It’s not like he didn’t like the idea or anything—it was an excuse for Noiz to play with his hair longer, to enjoy the gentle touch of his hands. But…   
“You’ve never braided hair before, have you?”  
Noiz shook his head. “But it can’t be that hard, right? Plus, I have this guide I’m following. So…”

Noiz worked his Coil off of his wrist and set it on the bed beside him. Gingerly he set his hands on Aoba’s shoulders to steer him back into where he was before, staring out into their bedroom. He rose to his knees so he was perched slightly higher than Aoba, making it easier to work with his hair. He ran his fingers through his hair once more to assure it was untangled before working. With a content sigh he picked his Coil up again, scanning through the random tutorial he had found online.  
Thankfully, the instructions Noiz had chosen were simple-worded and step-by-step, giving him the basis of where to start. He scanned them over another time, memorizing them and recounting the most vital steps over in his head.

Noiz ran his hands through Aoba’s hair again and separated it out into three different sections. He held each of the sections between his fingers, holding one apart away from the others as he made a criss-cross pattern with the sections of hair.

Noiz braided it tight until he reached the very ends of Aoba’s hair. He pinched the ends together as he leaned over to Aoba’s bedside table, grabbing a hairband and stretching it over his fingers. He wound it taut around the ends of Aoba’s hair and let the braid fall against Aoba’s back. He sat back, admiring his work with a content sigh.

“All done,” Noiz mused. He gently tugged on Aoba’s shoulder—he had sensed halfway through that Aoba had gone into a relaxed daze.   
And he was right. Aoba turned his head around at Noiz’s gentle cloying, but his eyes were half-lidded with apparent exhaustion.   
“What was that?” he asked, shifting in bed so he wasn’t perched on the very edge.   
“All done,” Noiz repeated. “What do you think?”   
“Oh! Well, let me see…”

Aoba reached back and grabbed the braid. He swept it over his shoulder and marveled Noiz’s work. It was just a simple braid, but his hair was kept ornately in place. No hair spilled out of the braid. He smiled softly to himself as he thumbed over the surface of his hair.   
“It’s good, Noiz. You did good.”  
He met Noiz’s eye, the green staring back brimmed with warmth.   
“I’m glad,” the younger man replied.

Then he lurched forward, taking Aoba’s face in his hands and kissing him with abandon. Aoba made a complained noise, caught off guard. He broke out of the kiss and gawked at Noiz.

“W-What are you doing?”   
“I can kiss you now, right? Among… other things.”   
Noiz’s eyes flicked downwards to the towel wrapped around Aoba’s waist. Immediately afterwards his hands were on the fabric, looking into Aoba’s eyes for approval. He paused for a moment, then sighed with defeat.

“I just got clean, dammit,” Aoba said with a petty laugh before Noiz’s mouth was on his again. He wrapped his arms around Aoba and pulled the two of down onto the bed.

***

When Noiz awoke, the bed beside him was empty. He curled on his side to wrap Aoba in his arms, but when he stretched, all he was welcomed by were sheets still faintly warm from Aoba’s body heat.  
He rubbed his eyes and yawned, listening around in the still bedroom for where he could be.   
There was no noise coming from the bathroom, but he heard something faint like the excited noise of his Allmate in a distant room of their apartment. With a sigh, he pulled himself out of bed, covering his mouth with to suppress a yawn. He slipped into a casual outfit and stumbled out of the bedroom.

He trekked down the hallway, past the living room and towards the kitchen. A sizzling sound mixed with the clattering of pans, along with Aoba singing as he cooked breakfast. The sounds of domesticity grew louder and louder as he approached the kitchen, making Noiz smile to himself at their welcoming air.

Aoba scowled as he studied the cooking food on the stovetop. The last time he had tried to cook bacon, he severely undercooked it and almost sent the two of them to the hospital from the pain of undercooked meat. He didn’t want to mess it up again—he kept prodding the sizzling pieces with his fork to check to see if the undersides were done. They weren’t.  
He heard a yawn, then shuffling from the hallway. Then a person emerged in the doorframe, standing here in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. Aoba lifted his attention away from the stove towards an exhausted looking Noiz, who was just barely beginning to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

“Good morning, Noiz!” Aoba said cheerily. He wiped his hands off on a towel set beside the oven and turned down the heat so the cooking eggs and bacon wouldn’t burn.   
“Good mor—” Noi began, then cut himself off with a gasp. He had finally blinked the last of his hazy exhaustion of his eyes; his eyes came into focus and focused directly on Aoba.   
“Whoa,” left his mouth quietly as he stared at the other man, captivated.

Aoba looked different. But it was a nice different— a breathtaking different. Noiz already loved every part of Aoba’s appearance as it was, and granted, nothing about his appearance stood out stark from how it usually did. He was wearing a simple oversized T-shirt and shorts. But it wasn’t any of that.  
It was Aoba’s hair.

Aoba had left the braid in overnight, and had removed them when he woke up. The tight braids had molded his hair into prominent waves. It hung around his face like the waves of a rolling sea, all shades of teal and turquoise licking at his cheeks and at his neck.   
His hair was usually ramrod straight or had a faint wave to it when the air was humid—which wasn’t all too common in Germany in the summer.   
The waviness accentuated his facial structure and licked along his neck and collarbones, framing him in a gleaming blue halo.

The two of them stared fixated at one another for a while—before Aoba blushed and turned his head away. He pushed his hair off of his shoulders, self-consciously trying to hide it from Noiz.   
“Why are you staring? Do you not like it?” Aoba asked, looking down and away in embarrassment. “It looks bad, doesn’t it?”  
Noiz blinked and pinched his brows together. “No, it looks so good. You look… you are so…”

He sighed softly, not knowing how to articulate himself properly with words. He stepped forward until Aoba was pinned against the island in their kitchen, caging him in between his arms. He swept Aoba into a hug, conveying what he was desperately trying to say in gestures rather than words.  
He buried his face into Aoba’s hair—it was still faintly damp from last night, and his skin smelled of the new cologne that he had bought him on his birthday a couple months back.

Aoba tried to fight back by stubbornly refusing to return the hug, but instead Noiz hugged him tighter until he felt obligated to return the hug. He sighed and rested his cheek against Noiz’s shoulder.   
“Let me braid your hair more,” Noiz whispered hungrily in the whorl of Aoba’s ear. “Wear it like this more often. It’s so…”  
Noiz wrapped a strand of hair around his finger, winding it tight and letting it fall, watching as it scrunched back into place.  
He grinned to himself and dipped in, sucking on Aoba’s neck and the strands of hair clinging to his skin. Aoba jumped in shock and tried to break away, only to remember he was caught stuck in place.

“Aw, Noiz, come on! I’m making breakfast—” Aoba began to complain. Noiz shut him off by dragging his tongue down Aoba’s neck, laughing as Aoba whimpered helplessly.   
“Breakfast can wait. Come on, Aoba. I want do it so bad. While your hair is like this.”   
“My hair will be like this _after_ breakfast, moron.” He grabbed Noiz’s locks and tugged them, trying to move him away from his shoulder as he continued to lick and tease his sensitive skin.

“I can’t wait, though,” Noiz complained like a petulant child.   
Aoba sighed. “Aren’t you the least bit tired from how much we did it last night?”   
“Not really.” A hand worked its way down to the hem of Aoba’s shirt, playfully rolling it upwards as he slipped a hand inside. Aoba gasped as Noiz’s dry palms spanned out across his torso, trailing upwards steadily. He leaned in to Aoba’s ear, pressing a teasing kiss against the lobe. “Come on, breakfast can wait—”  
“But _Noiz_ … I’m going to burn the bacon!”   
“We can buy more.”

Whatever Aoba was preparing to retort was quieted by Noiz crushing his lips against Aoba’s. His hands found his nipples and massaged them lovingly. Aoba’s mouth opened with a faint moan—taking the opportunity, Noiz stuck his tongue inside Aoba’s mouth and kissed him harder. One hand moved away from his chest and moved to Aoba’s hair, bunching it up in his palm. Aoba gave in and returned the kiss, sighing softly as Noiz began massaging his scalp. A faint current of electricity jolted through him, down to his waist.

Losing the sensation in his hair had changed both of their lives for the better. If it hadn’t, Aoba wouldn’t ever be able to enjoy Noiz playing with it like this. And losing that pain came directly from giving Noiz the ability to feel.   
Together—with Aoba enjoying Noiz’s hands in his hair, and Noiz enjoying the feeling of the waves underneath his fingertips—they savored the moment, expressing their unsaid gratitude in shared breaths and loving kisses.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHEEEWWW... I wrote this while in the middle of a very bad writer's block streak. I still am in it tbh but I managed to pump something out while in the midst of it. Thank god!  
> My classes begin tomorrow, and if history repeats itself, I'm more likely to write while procrastinating doing other things so hopefully I'll get more out quicker. :')


	11. 10 P.M.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz arrives home very late from work one night, finding Aoba waiting for him with a box of pizza and a desire to pamper him after working so hard.

“I’m home.”

Noiz’s words ran out by their own, a trained response for whenever he stepped through the threshold of his apartment. He was too tired to carry himself properly, letting his feet slink along the floor after carefully taking off his shoes.

It had been a long, long day.

He didn’t arrive home until late in the night—he wouldn’t be surprised if Aoba was already in bed and asleep by now. The last time he had checked the time (which had been when he stepped out of his family’s company building) it was 9:30 PM. It was probably 10:00 or even later.

And Aoba had been up pretty early that morning, wanting to cook Noiz a proper breakfast because he knew he wouldn’t get the time to with his hectic schedule at work. Discouragingly enough, it was more than likely that Aoba had fallen asleep before he had the chance to see him…

But soon, he heard the cheery words calling out for him— “Welcome home!”

He had begun to anticipate hearing Aoba say that when he came home from work. His voice carried with it the same inviting ring every single day, always as excited to see Noiz as Noiz was excited to see Aoba. And a reminder for what all his hard work was for.

As Noiz pulled off his jacket of his suit, he smiled to himself.

The first thing he smelled was the scent of food—something nutty and faintly greasy. At once, he remembered just _how_ hungry he was, as the last time he ate anything was the breakfast Aoba cooked for him. As if to make a point, his stomach growled.

The further he walked into the apartment, the stronger the scent of food became. It was coming directly from the living room instead of the kitchen, surprisingly.  
He followed the hall down to the living room and stopped right before the threshold. The scent was overwhelming; he knew this food well, he had a large portion eating it almost exclusively…

“Pizza?” Noiz asked as he walked into the living room. Aoba was sitting on the couch, his back turned to Noiz. As soon as he heard his voice, he turned around, grinning wide. The look of excitement on his face mirrored the excitement Noiz felt in his chest when their eyes met.

“Yep!” he said with a nod. “Pizza’s okay, isn’t it? I figured you hadn’t had any time to eat anything for dinner. Right?”  
“Yeah.”  
Aoba sucked in a breath, clicking his tongue against his teeth as a sign of sympathy. “Jeeze, those meetings must have gone on really long, huh…”

Noiz loosened his tie and circled around the couch, taking a spot beside Aoba. He glanced at the coffee table set between two couches, on it sitting an unopened cardboard box. It seemed to be fresh, as wisps of steam trained upwards from the surface.

“Has this been sitting out long?”  
“No, of course not. Ah, by the way, how was work?”

Noiz made a sound like a dismissive grunt, conveying enough with that alone. He didn’t feel like changing the conversation just yet. There were more pestering issues at hand rather than how his day had went. But Aoba insisted.  
“Don’t want to talk about it now?” Aoba asked, staring up into Noiz’s face. “I bet it was difficult…”  
“No, it wasn’t that difficult, but you—” Noiz stopped. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Just a lot of work. Lot of paperwork. Lot of meetings. That was it, mostly.”  
“’That so. Well, you can spend the rest of the night and all of tomorrow relaxing. You really worked hard.”  
“Mmm.”

Now back to what he was concerned about…  
Noiz glanced over at the food once again. It looked fresh, like it had been delivered just a couple minutes before he came home.  
Aoba didn’t like to spend his money recklessly, and he always scolded Noiz when he tried to spend too much on Aoba. He wouldn’t spend the money for an entire pizza just for Noiz, and so late at night, too. Even if it was just a pizza, it was unlike him…

Before he could think any longer, Aoba clapped his hands together and grinned. He leaned forward, reaching for the plates set out on the coffee table alongside the pizza box.

“First! You should eat something. I am starving.”  
“Wait.”

Noiz grabbed Aoba’s hand as it reached for the pizza box. His brows knit together in confusion.  
“You… it’s really late. Haven’t you ate yet?”  
Aoba shook his head. “Nope. I had Midori tell me when you were leaving, and then I went and ordered dinner. I figured I’d do just as much, eating alone is lonely. And I wasn’t really that hungry when we usually have dinner. Plus…”  
Aoba’s gaze softened, looking over Noiz with unyielding love.  
“You worked really hard today. You deserve this.”  
“Aoba…”

He tried to convey what he was feeling—concern for Aoba going without eating until so late and appreciation for Aoba being so considering— but he just kept staring, dumbfounded, at the face smiling at him. Though he had been living with Aoba for several months now and knew Aoba liked to put the ones he cared about before himself, sacrificing for the sake of others was still something he was learning at being accustomed to.

Aoba could have just ate without him, then put away the leftovers for him once he was finished with work. But instead, he waded through his own hunger pangs until he was home. So they could eat together.

Aoba stared at him, frowning, while he contemplated in silence. With a sigh, Aoba dragged him away from his thoughts.  
“What? You’re staring at me like I did something wrong.”  
Noiz shook his head and sighing under his breath. He brought Aoba’s hand to his lips and kissed the back of his hand.  
“… Sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong at all. I was just worried you weren’t taking care of yourself, but now I understand. Thank you.”

Noiz let go of Aoba’s hand and opened the pizza box, grabbing two slices, one for both of them. They ate away in silence, the both of them too starved to make any light conversation.

They quickly ate through their first slice in a couple of bites. The intake of food just made Noiz’s stomach realize how hungry he actually was—he reached over, grabbing a second piece; Aoba had barely eaten half of his first piece.

“Though I really hope you don’t do this sort of thing when I’m away for a couple days,” Noiz teased. “You’re already pretty thin as it is. Can’t have you starving yourself while I’m not here.”  
Aoba brought his food away from his mouth, pouting. “Of course I don’t. I’m not an idiot, you know.”  
“Really?”

When Aoba smacked his arm, he laughed, knowing full well that he deserved being hit for that. But he couldn’t help himself—Aoba was too cute when he got frustrated or embarrassed.

“What did you do all day?” Noiz asked, taking a large bite out of his food.  
Aoba finished off the last of his food and recounted his thoughts while he chewed.  
“Let’s see,” he said, muffled by bread. He swallowed then resumed again. “I did a lot of studying. Then I went around the city, following your map and checking out all the other places you had highlighted on it… ah, and I cleaned a lot! I called Tae and she helped me learn some of her recipes. All around it was pretty—”  
“Domestic,” Noiz butted in.  
“ _Huh_?!”

Noiz took another bite of his pizza and pretended as though he hadn’t said anything. “What?”  
“Domestic… w-what do you mean by that?”  
“Nothing, really. You’re just acting like the perfect wife. Cooking, cleaning, waiting for me to get home… that’s all things that a wife does.”  
“I am not a wife!” Aoba huffed.  
“But you act like it. Just like a housewife.”  
“H-Honestly…”

He gawked and turned his head away to hide his embarrassment. He forcibly shoved Noiz’s hand closer to hit mouth, stuffing his face full of pizza.  
“Hard workers should spend less time talking and more time eating,” he muttered offhandedly.

But quickly enough, as it usually did, Aoba’s anger died away and they resumed eating while talking idly. Between the two of them, they ate the entire thing in a matter of minutes. They really _had_ been hungry— a longing heart had only enough it could fill before travelling elsewhere, in the piths of their stomach.  
As Aoba left to throw away their garbage, Noiz stretched his arms over his head, yawning.

“I’m really tired,” he said as Aoba sat back down next to him.  
“Do you want to go to bed?” Aoba asked.  
“Not yet. Sleeping after eating isn’t very smart. ‘Sides, I want to stay like this for a little bit…”

He closed the gap of space between him and Aoba on the couch. He rested his head against Aoba’s shoulder, turning his head to the side to playfully nip at a strand of his hair.  
“I missed you today,” he admitted. “A lot. I don’t want to go to bed just yet. I still want to be with you.”

Touched, Aoba smiled.  
“I missed you, too. I was worried about you. I wanted to call to see how you were doing, but I didn’t want to interrupt anything. Well then… want to watch a movie?”  
“A movie sounds good.”

Noiz lifted his wrist, using his Coil to sift through the choices available. He found something in Japanese and chose it without checking to see what it was. He knew Aoba would be more comfortable watching something in his native tongue, even if it was mundane.  
As the movie started up on the television mounted on the wall, Noiz settled in closer to Aoba’s side. His hand searched around on the surface of the couch and found Aoba’s hand, squeezing it tight. Aoba squeezed back and they weakly held one another in their arms.

The opening credits to the movie started, and Noiz could easily tell that he picked some cheesy romance. He didn’t particularly mind either way, nor did Aoba, he figured.  
Having the movie on was less about actually watching it and was more about having a reason to stay awake and enjoy Aoba’s company for a little bit longer.

There was nothing entirely memorable about the movie; no matter how much he tried to devote his attention to the screen, the more he felt himself longing to fall asleep. And he kept feeling Aoba’s sidelong glances to his side.  
But the warmth was nice. The quiet air as they both remained still was an interesting change of pace. It was different than him using his hands to grope all over Aoba—which he wouldn’t mind, but he didn’t have enough energy to even consider going for a quick round.

It was nice instead to listen to Aoba’s breathing, to feel the warmth of his skin, and to lean on him as a sort of pillow.  
Actually… he wondered what sort of a pillow Aoba’s lap would make. Staying curled up like this was starting to make his muscles ache.

Noiz stretched out on the empty expanse of the couch, shifting his weight off of Aoba’s shoulder as he slunk downward. He rested his head on Aoba’s thigh, curling out and nestling his face into his jeans. He was warm and comfortable, just as he expected. 

“Noiz.” Aoba nudged his shoulder. Confusion rang out in his voice. “What are you doing?”  
“This is more comfortable. Is that alright?”  
Softly Aoba laughed. “Of course.”

As if by nature, Aoba’s hands found their way to Noiz’s hair. He began to pet it lovingly, slowly weaving his hands through the blond tufts all the way across his skull. At first Noiz’s body seized up with the foreign feeling, but the more Aoba petted him, the more he began to enjoy it.

Increasingly, Noiz paid less attention to the movie they were watching and paid more attention to the feel of Aoba’s hands playing with his hair. Warmth spread out through his entire body with the electric spark of Aoba’s touch. More than anything, it felt faintly ticklish, but Aoba was gentle and caring, running his hands through his hair in short, circular motions.  
He would wind his fingers around short tufts and ruffle them up, laughing to himself when Noiz’s hair stayed upright. Then he would smooth it back down and resume massaging his scalp while paying half-attention to the movie onscreen.

All of Noiz’s stress had been washed away, thanks to Aoba; it was replaced instead with his latent exhaustion, making resisting the desire to fall asleep a nagging hassle. He just felt so tranquil, and his eyelids were starting to get heavier. The colors of the television blurred together into one giant cluster, and his breathing slowed… yeah, it would be okay if he just kept his eyes closed, he thought… he could still listen to the movie… there was some sappy dialogue about never-ending love or something, but he really couldn’t pay much attention, he was too tired…

Before he could resist the temptation, he had fallen into a gentle sleep, lulled deeper and deeper into sleep by Aoba’s gentle touches.

The last thing he remembered was hearing Aoba leaning in close. He pushed Noiz’s hair away from his face and kissed his forehead. Then he whispered something to him in his ear— “Goodnight, Noiz. You did well.”

Somewhere in his sleep, Noiz heard Aoba turn the television off, and felt the sense of weightlessness as Aoba carried him off the bed—and Aoba complaining to Ren at how heavy he was as he carried him to bed.

With Aoba pampering him like this, working excruciatingly long days didn’t seem quite as gruesome as before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Procrastinating writing smut by writing fluff... fair trade, right? \o/


	12. Change of Pace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba never had to try really hard to turn Noiz on, but that didn't stop him from trying to be flirtatious every once and a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt request: "How do you want me?", posted over on tumblr [here](http://seventhimpact.tumblr.com/post/119334823973/how-do-you-want-me-yes-please-sin-for-us)!

Aoba never had to try to be romantic in order to turn Noiz on. His boyfriend could get aroused at anything Aoba did. He didn’t have to try particularly hard to get Noiz in the mood.

He could be cooking dinner with his hair pulled up in a high ponytail, wearing an old and stained T-shirt to not ruin other clothes from the messes cooking came alongside with. Noiz had an uncanny disposition to press his body against Aoba’s back, hold him in a hug, and whisper sweet nothings until Aoba forgot about making dinner. Those words were usually cut short by Aoba elbowing Noiz in the stomach to pry him away. But after dinner, they both strayed towards their bedroom anyway.

He could be cleaning their apartment while playing music on his Coil. Thinking that he was home alone when he did most of the chores, Aoba sang along proudly to whatever he was listening to. But Noiz usually walked in on him belting along to romantic ballads or cheery J-pop songs—which made him practically double over in embarrassment. His boyfriend would laugh shower him with kisses until he warmed back up. Then Noiz would scoop him in his arms— saying that cleaning could wait for later.

Or he could simply be going over German with Noiz, insecurely repeating phrases he had learned to know if he was saying things correctly. At the end of their lessons, Noiz rewarded him with a congratulatory kiss—which usually ended up becoming much more. At least he was starting to become fluent in terms of affection.

When it came towards Aoba, Noiz was pretty simple to read. He loved every part of him, there was nothing he didn’t like.   
But that didn’t stop Aoba from trying to up his own game, to be the romantic one every once and a while.

As Aoba finished dying his hair from his shower, he tied it back into a loose ponytail. He frowned at his reflection.   
“Should I keep it up…” he mumbled to himself, grabbing the strand of fabric and pulling it lose. “Or should I put it down?”

He drummed his hands against the bathroom counter until the answer came to him.   
… Pulled up. Noiz was always a sucker for seeing him with his neck exposed. With that, he tied it back into a high ponytail.

Then he grabbed the cologne bottle he had sitting out on the bathroom counter and lightly dabbed a little on either side his neck. He didn’t know what the bottle’s label said, all he knew is that it was French and that it looked and smelled expensive. Noiz had bought it as an extravagant gift last Christmas, and Aoba felt guilty using it for anything other than special occasions.   
But Noiz was drawn to the scent, like a fruit fly to honey. It was twice as hard to un-latch Noiz’s hands around his waist when he wore it. So he only used it for the most _special_ of occasions. Tonight being one of them.

He pulled on a simple T-shirt and a pair of underwear. They were nothing too romantic, but he wasn’t expecting to wear them for any long, anyway. Best just to make things as simple as possible in dressing himself.

With a satisfied sigh, he walked out of the bathroom only to find that the bedroom was empty. If he remembered correctly, Noiz had said something about needing to finish a couple of things before bed. That was fine— he would be Noiz’s special reward for working hard into the late hours of the night.   
He hopped into bed and sank into the pillows, getting comfortable as he waited for Noiz to finish up the last of his work.

After a couple minutes spent messing around on his Coil, he heard the sound of Noiz’s feet echoing down the hallway. A rush of panic he had managed to suppress bubbled up to the surface as a hard lump in the back of his throat.   
He tried not to worry, to not overthink the situation he had planned out. He spread himself out, lying with one hand behind his head, the other resting on his knee. He probably looked ridiculous, pulling such a pose, but he didn’t have much time to dwell on it as the door opened and Noiz walked in.

He knew he must have looked ridiculous because Noiz’s eyebrows furrowed together. A half-amused, half-confused smile wavered over his face. Aoba lied on his side instead.

“…What are you doing?” Noiz asked.   
“I’m being romantic with you,” Aoba replied. “You’re not the only one who gets to be in charge all the time. I can be romantic, too.”

He rolled over onto his stomach, jutting his hips upwards to put himself on full display. Noiz was helpless but to stare, eyes flickering to the round curve of Aoba’s ass… the way upward over Aoba body… until their eyes met.  
Aoba grinned flirtatiously to detract from the blush creeping over his cheeks.   
“How do you want me?” he asked, using the sultriest voice he could manage. “Tonight I’m all yours.”

Noiz chuckled and folded his arms over his chest. “You’re asking me that, but… you have something else on your mind.”   
Aoba’s playful smile faded into a pout. “What do you mean?”   
“You want to take control today, don’t you? I don’t mind, I like that. A lot. So…”

He moved forward on the bed, with one hand reaching towards Aoba’s hair. He encircled his fingers around a strand, delicately playing with the strands as his face inched closer. He brought his hand to his lips and kissed the long, blue tufts of hair. Aoba weakly shivered with the touch and Noiz hummed in satisfaction.   
He dropped his hand, letting the hair slip out of his grip, the blue falling back into place.

“How do you want me to have you?” he murmured, their faces now mere inches apart, the tips of noses playfully brushing against each other.   
“U-Uh…” Aoba’s cheeks, already flushing red, turned even redder.

He glanced to the side in thought, then quickly turned his gaze back to Noiz. There was a hardened determination in his eye, contrasting the embarrassment ebbing off of every other part of him.   
“O-On hands and knees,” he said, words spilling out of his mouth before he had time to think about what he was saying. “It feels good like that, y-your… piercings feel the best like that…”

Noiz blinked in surprise. “ _Ohh_? You’ve never been so honest so quickly before.”   
“B-Because I don’t like admitting that sort of stuff!” Aoba huffed, feeling a stab of hurt onto his pride. “I, I mean… I like it any way we do it, b-but…”   
“I’m not complaining, I like knowing what you like. It makes me happy knowing what you get the most pleasure fr—”   
“Okay, okay, that’s enough! Got it!” Aoba clicked his tongue while rolling his eyes. “Jeez, you always have to be so embarrassing… I was the one supposed to be in control, but it still feels like I lost— hmph.”

Aoba took the initiative; he gripped Noiz by the front of his shirt and pulled him forward into a deep kiss. At first the kiss was nothing more than lips crushing against each other, stealing breaths the other drew out, breaking apart to gasp for air. Then Noiz broke apart, opening Aoba’s lips with his tongue as he deepened their kiss further.

While kissing Noiz passionately, Aoba’s hands trailed down Noiz’s chest, slowly unbuttoning the front of his shirt. Once freed, he helped Noiz pull it off to land on their bedroom floor. He broke apart their kiss to do the same for his own, pulling his T-shirt off and tossing it aside.

Noiz quickly undid his jeaned and kicked them away. He dipped in for another brief kiss as hands trailed down Aoba’s bare chest to his underwear, where the outline of his dick strained against the fabric.   
“Already turned on this much and I’ve barely even touched you,” Noiz whispered. He grabbed Aoba’s cock through his underwear and squeezed gently. “You want it badly, huh?”

Noiz pulled Aoba’s dick free from his underwear—precum spilled from the tip and it jerked from being exposed to the cool bedroom air.   
He was just about to start pumping him up and down when Aoba seized the front of his underwear, finding his balls and squeezing them together. Noiz gasped in with the shock of pain.

“Y-You, too,” Aoba murmured. “You want it, too, right? So let’s do it t-together.”   
Noiz gave him his trademark smirk. “That’s a great idea.”

They shared another fervent kiss as they helped each other free from their remnants of clothing. Aoba straddled himself in Noiz’s lap, dicks practically touching one another as he got comfortable.

Noiz licked his palm, then squeezed their cocks together and started working them slowly. The precum falling down their cocks helped smooth his movements. He closed his eyes and squeezed their cocks together harder, adoring the feeling of shared warmth and pleasure.

Aoba added his hand, pumping their cocks at the same pace Noiz was working at. The piercings on the underside of Noiz’s cock felt so good when they pressed against his length and the added pressure from his own hand worked them harder against his dick. He quivered and bit his lower lip to stop whimpers from leaving his mouth.

Noiz kissed down the side of his lover’s neck, alternating between planting tender kisses and sucking hard, leaving red marks that would definitely morph into bruises by the morning. Aoba trembled and worked their cocks faster and faster—surprising Noiz by just how eager he had already become.

“Aoba…that’s—that’s enough…” Noiz panted. He focused his gaze onto Aoba’s—the golden hazy, eyes half-lidded from pleasure. “We’re gonna cum if we keep going like this.”

It took a couple seconds for Aoba’s eyes to refocus and come back to reality; he slowly nodded and they pulled themselves away from one another.

Noiz grabbed the bottle of lube in his bedside drawer and poured a decent-sized amount onto his fingertips. He rubbed his fingers together to warm the gel. At the same time, Aoba positioned himself in bed—on all fours, head nestled inside the nest of pillows, bare ass exposed to the air.   
Noiz stifled a breath as he drank in the sight, then knelt behind Aoba.

He rubbed his forefinger against his ass before thrusting in, working in a familiar pattern of short, quick movements to stretch Aoba out. Once he could comfortably move around he added another finger and repeated.

Aoba’s moans were delicate and muffled inside the pillow he was using to prop his head upon. He tried to look back and watch Noiz as he worked, but straining his neck that far in such a debilitating position hurt his neck. Instead he closed his eyes and let himself fall into Noiz’s pace, even rocking his hips against Noiz’s fingers.

When Noiz heard the ringing sweetness in Aoba’s moans that he had learned meant he was close to cumming, he leaned over Aoba’s body and whispered in his ear.   
“How is that? Enough?”   
Aoba turned his head to look at Noiz and nodded weakly. His face was already flushed and his hands were gripping tight into the pillow, deep enough to leave balled up wrinkles when his grip leavened. He could probably come from this alone. But Aoba didn’t want that, and neither did he.

Noiz thrusted in again for safe measure, then he gingerly pulled his fingers out—lulling out a weak whimper from Aoba at the lack of stimuli.

He grabbed Aoba by his hips and arched his ass further upwards, so Aoba didn’t have to rely all his weight onto his hands and could prop his thighs against Noiz’s. He brought his dick to Aoba’s entrance and then pushed in.

He moved slowly, savoring the warmth and tightness as Aoba’s body got accustomed to his movements.

Once he felt satisfied, Noiz pulled back. He finally released a breath he had been holding.   
He wrapped his arms around Aoba’s waist and started moving.

He started slow at first, using every thrust inward to further stretch Aoba out and drawing back out to focus his attention elsewhere—his hands clawed along Aoba’s chest, gently scoring his nails along his skin as he dragged them downwards. Another thrust in, and bringing his hands back up to toy with Aoba’s nipples.

Noiz was just starting to work in a rhythm that felt best for the both of them, when he felt Aoba’s hand grip his tight.

“N-Noiz…” Aoba managed out between heavy gasps for air. A desperation rang out in his voice that told Noiz to stop, for reasons why he was unsure.

Noiz stopped mid-thrust and leaned forward, body pinning against Aoba’s back. He brushed hair away from the gap of space between Aoba’s shoulder blades and kissed here softly.   
“What is it?” he murmured tenderly. “What’s wrong?”   
“There’s nothing wrong it’s just… n-not like this anymore…”   
“Hm? Why?”

Aoba twisted himself around, being careful as to keep Noiz inside of him as he turned around. Now he was lying on his back staring up at Noiz. He offered a sheepish smile.

“I can’t see your face very well like that. I don’t know what you’re feeling or what sort of face you’re making and that… bothers me. I… I prefer this more.”

Touched, Noiz closed his eyes and sighed softly.

“I feel the same,” he said, voice gentle. “I like seeing your face, what you look like when you feel it most… the way you try to muffle your voice… I like seeing all of you.”   
Aoba’s smile wavered and his cheeks reddened. “D-Do you really?”   
“Why wouldn’t I? It makes me happy knowing that I can make you feel just as good as you make me feel.”

With a gentle touch, Noiz grabbed Aoba’s legs and wrapped them around his waist. He realigned himself with Aoba’s ass, as changing positions made moving awkward. He leaned his upper body forward, brushed Aoba’s hair out of his face, and kissed him on the forehead.

“Of course, I like doing it that way, too. Remember how we did it at Platinum Jail?”   
Noiz chuckled at the embarrassed sound Aoba made, then continued.   
“But I agree with you, this is better. We have all night, there’s no need to rush anything. I want to do it slow.”

He kissed Aoba on the cheek and started to move again, slowly dragging his cock deeper in to the hilt. Then he pulled all the way back, savoring the way in which Aoba clenched tighter around his cock in its absence.

“I love you,” Noiz whispered, pouring every bit of tenderness and affection he could into his words, giving them meaning beyond anything he had knew before he met Aoba.   
The look Aoba gave him back said that he knew that, too—that seeing his expressions went beyond his perverse desires. It was a form of reassurance, that Noiz could make someone else feel so immeasurably good.

“I love you, too,” Aoba said. He wrapped his arms around Noiz and hugged him tight.

Their lips brushed together in a soft kiss, Aoba moaning against his mouth as he started to move again. Their bodies moved in unison with one another, working in slow rhythm to feel each other’s bodies.

But building with the pleasant, floating feeling was crawling desperation. Aoba felt like his body was burning up.

“M-More…” he panted. He wrapped his legs tighter around Noiz and dug his nails into the nape of his neck. “Deeper.”

Noiz obeyed. His movements became less dragged out, working in quicker, shorter thrusts. He directed all his focus on bringing Aoba to his climax.   
And he could tell Aoba was close—his hands were wound tight in his hair, he didn’t try to hold down his voice or hold himself back.

He wanted to watch Aoba as he came.   
Noiz grabbed Aoba’s cock and stroked him in time with his thrusts. Aoba’s hands clawed over Noiz’s back, desperately trying to find something to dig into as his pleasure heightened.

“Ahh… N-Noiz, don’t… I-I’m—”  
“I know.” Noiz rasped, cutting Aoba off. “Look at me. L-Look at me as you cum.”

Aoba did as he was asked. Eyes like honey— unfocused and cloudy from desire— stared up into icy sharp green.  
The intensity of Noiz’s gaze, oblivious to the world except for _Aoba_ , was the final straw.   
He arched his back and came with a loud cry.   
Noiz came immediately thereafter, pushed to his limit by Aoba’s muscles tightening around him and the erotic look on Aoba’s face as he climaxed. He buried his face into Aoba’s shoulder and cried out, dick throbbing inside of Aoba.

They laid still, panting, savoring the last of their highs before coming back down to reality. Noiz kissed Aoba softly right below his eye and pulled his cock out. With a gratified sigh he rolled off of Aoba, remaining pinned close to his side. He held him in a weak embrace, one arm draped over Aoba’s body.

“That felt great,” Aoba said after finally catching his breath. His eyes fluttered open and found Noiz’s. He grinned at his boyfriend and he grinned back.   
“Yeah, me too,” Noiz replied. “The look on your face when you came was… _erotic_.”   
“W-Well of course it was!” Aoba sighed in defeat and turned his head away. “W-What other face am I supposed to make…”

Noiz chuckled. He reached over and grabbed a lock of hair fallen loose from Aoba’s ponytail. He wound it tight around his finger. Then he planted a kiss along the side of Aoba’s jaw, humming quietly.   
“Hmm…”  
He leaned in closer, smelling the scent of Aoba’s cologne—the scent sweet and hardly noticeable, but blended perfectly in with the scent of his skin.

“I always liked this on you…” he murmured offhandedly. “You chose to wear it just for this, didn’t you?”   
“Well, I wanted to be more flirtatious.” Aoba laughed. “I tried to do a whole bunch of things I knew you’d like. Did it work?”   
Noiz craned his neck to peer into Aoba’s face. He smirked. “All you have to do to flirt is be naked. That’s sexy enough.”   
“B-But that’s too obvious, you perverted brat!”

Aoba chuckled and ruffled his hands through Noiz’s hair, playfully messing it up so it stuck upwards in every single direction.   
Noiz looked ridiculous with most of his hair sticking straight upwards. He laughed even harder at the visual of Noiz looking like he had stuck his finger in an electrical socket. Aoba smoothed it back down while giggling, then leaned in for a kiss.

“A change of pace is nice every once and a while, isn’t it?” Aoba asked.

In response, Noiz wrapped his arms tighter around Aoba in a tight hug. He rested his head against the crook of Aoba’s neck and sighed blissfully.   
“Yeah, it is.”


	13. Relief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an extremely stressful plane ride, Aoba is still on edge. Noiz wants to comfort him however he can to help him relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt request: "Just let me take care of you.", posted on tumblr [here](http://seventhimpact.tumblr.com/post/119825831333/just-let-me-take-care-of-you-from-the-sentence).

Aoba was frightened of flying. The first time he had ever flown was filled with nerves, an inability to relax, and an incessant fear of the plane falling out of the sky. In the handful of times he had flown afterwards, it was clear that he had yet to overcome that fear.

And the latest seven-hour flight from Germany to Japan had been Noiz and Aoba’s most unpleasant plane ride yet. They kept experiencing rough turbulence that thrashed the plane about violently. It put everyone in the plane on edge, but out of everyone, Aoba felt it the most. Throughout the entire experience, he fidgeted in his seat, dug his hands into the plastic arm rests, and his legs bounced incessantly with dread.

Noiz tried several times to reassure Aoba that nothing would happen, that they were fine and that they would land in Japan soon—but it didn’t work. Aoba brushed off his fright and tried to not look as terrified as he felt, but Noiz knew him better than that.  
He spent most of the flight with his headphones on, trying to ignore the pressing feeling of weightlessness beneath his feet. When they flew through a massive thunderstorm, however, he took Noiz’s offer and gripped onto his hand tightly.

It was well past midnight by the time they had landed in Midorijima. They hadn’t planned to arrive so late, but their flight from Tokyo to the island had been delayed by severe weather— as if that didn’t add to Aoba’s stress enough. They had planned to spend their vacation lodging at Tae’s house, but they both knew waking her up in the middle of the night faced terrible repercussions they’d both rather not deal with. Instead, they spent the night at the same hotel they stayed at before they first departed for Germany.

“You aren’t as surprised about how big the room is this time,” Noiz joked as he wheeled their suitcases into the hotel room. “You must be getting used to living like this.”  
“I guess so,” was Aoba’s only reply, in a voice tired and meek. He brushed past Noiz and sank into the sofa with a sigh.

He reached into his bag pulled Ren out, booted him up and hugged him close to his chest. They shared brief words between one another, mostly about Aoba’s health. Aoba comfortingly smoothed down the blue hair, trying to soothe himself with his Allmate’s help.  
Noiz let him be alone for the time being; it was clear that for whatever reason, he was still nervous and stressed out. He needed time to settle.

It was only when Aoba sighed and rose from the couch did he try to speak to him again.  
“Are you going to shower before bed?” he asked, as Aoba strayed towards the bathroom. Aoba stopped, paused, and then turned back around. He shook his head.  
“… In the morning. If you want to, you can. I’m just going to go to bed.”

And that was that. Aoba turned his back to Noiz and quietly rummaged through his suitcase. His shoulders were hunched up and his body was tense, like he was trying to prop up a massive weight. And on his own, he was failing.  
Noiz couldn’t help but feel guilty for not knowing what to do—if he should let Aoba be, or if he should try to comfort him.

When he couldn’t figure out how to help Aoba, Noiz started to feel restless. Aoba’s happiness was one the most important factors Noiz took into consideration when planning out any decision. When Aoba was happy, he was happy.

Noiz wanted to give him some peace of mind, so he could rest well and enjoy the rest of their stay in Midorijima blissfully and without stress. They were on vacation, after all… he deserved to be happy.

He knew that dealing with things alone did more bad than good—leaving wounds alone to mend for themselves left nasty scars. And above all else, Aoba needed him now.

Noiz walked over to where Aoba was standing, near the open windows, tugging on something to wear for bed.  
He stood behind him and pulled him into a weak hug. He was free to pull away if he wasn’t comfortable or if he didn’t want the affection. But he didn’t.  
Noiz waited until Aoba reciprocated the gesture— when he leaned backwards into the hug, resting his weight onto Noiz— before he started to speak.

“You’re stressed out,” he noted.  
Aoba sighed. “Is it that obvious?”  
“You’re tense all over. You’re still acting worried like you were on the plane. That ride really exhausted you, didn’t it?”

Aoba took a couple moments to respond. He nodded slowly, turning his head ever-so-slightly to look at Noiz. His voice was shaky with the weight of holding back tears.  
“I-It wasn’t fun. I was scared that the plane was going to fall out of the sky with all the shaking. And I thought once we landed it would be alright, but… I can’t get over it. I don’t know why.”  
“You don’t like flying to begin with, so having to face that sort of thing would have been really hard.” Noiz wrapped his arms around him a bit tighter. “Sorry.”

Noiz felt Aoba soften a little. Seeing Noiz expressing sympathy must have let him find a bit of comfort.  
Aoba sighed again, this time with relief. He turned his head to the side and kissed Noiz’s cheek.  
“Thank you for worrying about me, but I’ll be okay soon. I promise. I’m just a bit on edge still… but you shouldn’t have to suffer because of me.”  
Noiz exhaled softly in a muted sigh. “I’m not suffering at all. If I can help you in any way, I will. I want you to be happy.”

That quieted Aoba; he knew that, too. Shyly he averted his gaze, nodding.  
“So is there anything I can do to help you relax?”  
“…Do you have something in mind?”

Noiz smiled gently and brushed Aoba’s hair away from his neck. Soothingly he kissed the nape of his neck, lips skirting along his skin. Aoba shivered.  
“I have a couple ideas. As long as that’s okay with you,” Noiz whispered, now kissing the back of his ear.

The way Noiz’s breathing felt against his skin was tantalizing. Both sensual and comforting at once. Slowly washing away the stress with every breath. He wanted more—he wanted to feel Noiz’s warmth everywhere, to be engulfed in heat and pleasure so he didn’t have to think about anything else. That would calm him down.  
“Yeah. It would be nice…”

Noiz’s fingers gently glided over Aoba’s body, slowly skirting downwards towards his waist. He grabbed the bottom of Aoba’s shirt, but hesitated before moving further. He searched for approval to continue going in his boyfriend’s face.  
“Can I…?”  
Aoba nodded.

They worked together and pulled Aoba’s shirt free from his body, discarding it onto the floor. Then Aoba turned around so they were face to face. His eyes were slightly red and damp from the effort of holding back tears.  
“S-Sorry…” Aoba mumbled, bashfully turning his head away to dry his eyes.  
“No need to be sorry,” Noiz reassured him. He reached out and cupped a hand to the other man’s cheek.

He brushed his thumb against the puffy skin around Aoba’s eyes, wiping clean the evidence of tears. Slowly, he steered Aoba’s face back towards his so they were eye to eye. He offered him a tender smile before he dipped in for a kiss. Their lips just barely brushed against each other, the touch delicate and tender.

Noiz remained like that for a couple moments, letting the heat linger between their conjoined lips. But Aoba grew steadily impatient and leaned deeper into the kiss, to encompass more of his touch.  
Noiz chuckled deep in the back of his throat and brought his hands to Aoba’s sides. He moved them slowly, sliding them up over his smooth skin as their kissing turned passionate.

After several shared kisses Noiz broke apart, playfully nipping at Aoba’s lower lip when he did so. His fingertips brushed against his hardened nipples; he seized the opportunity when he moaned to kiss him deeper.  
His mouth was on Aoba’s again, using his tongue to part open his lips and drag it over his mouth. Aoba accepted it graciously, entwining their tongues together, dissolving his tension into slow, sloppy kisses.

Noiz continued to tease Aoba’s chest— fingers rubbing against his nipples, occasionally pinching them— to turn him further on. He was rewarded by the sound of Aoba’s needy moans muffled in the back of his throat. Gradually their kisses grew deeper and deeper until there was no space between them; bodies close, lungs begging for air.

Aoba pulled himself away from the kiss to catch his breath. He licked his glistening lips and stared up into Noiz’s face— the hazel of his eyes were hazy, face flushed a cherry red. Noiz smiled at the sight, then looped his arms underneath Aoba and pulled him into his arms. He linked his arms around Noiz’s neck and let himself be carried towards the bed.

Noiz set him down carefully, then crawled on top of him to resume where they had left off. They worked back into the pace of slow and tender kisses, as hands traced over each other’s bodies.

After minutes, their lips broke apart, remaining connected by a thin string of saliva. Faces lingered close to each other as they panted, desperately trying to regain their breath.

Instead of moving in for another kiss, Noiz leaned downwards and lapped his tongue over Aoba’s exposed neck. Then further down, nipping and kissing across his collarbones, down towards his chest. His hands spread out over his stomach, caressing every sliver of skin he could reach—loving him, worshipping him.

He continued to bite, kiss, and lick Aoba all over, focusing his attention to his most sensitive regions. He took one of Aoba’s nipples into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it—and sucked even harder at how loudly Aoba whimpered at the touch. His hand mimed the movements of his tongue with the other nipple while his other hand caressed the underside of his ribs.  
Noiz moved unhurriedly, taking his time with every little movement. There was no need to rush anything. He wanted to make Aoba feel so good all over, to wash his worries away in bliss. Working him up slowly would make the payoff much more gratifying.

As his lips moved further downwards, he felt a hand brush over his chest, trying in vain to unbutton his shirt. He glanced up to find Aoba’s eyes focused on him, brows narrowed with determination. Aoba wanted to reciprocate, to make him feel good, too. Touched by the gesture, Noiz grabbed Aoba’s hand and steered it away from his chest.  
“It’s okay,” he whispered—voice gentle, eyes warm. “I’m fine. This is about you right now.”  
“But I—”  
“Just let me take care of you.”  
Aoba sighed in defeat then pulled his lips into a pout. With uncertainty, he let his hand rest on the sheets and let him continue.

Noiz chuckled and dipped in for a brief kiss, wiping away the pout on his face.  
“… Cute.”  
“D-Don’t call me cute,” Aoba whispered under his breath. “You’re the cute one.”  
“Hmm. You shouldn’t call someone who’s on top of you cute when you’re in this sort of position. May end up with serious consequences.”  
“Oh yeah, like what?” Aoba’s eyes were aglow with a playful look, returning the teasing; it was a welcome relief to see bits and pieces of Aoba that had been dulled by stress.  
Noiz smirked. “Like _this_.”

He wrapped his hand around the front of Aoba’s underwear, fighting back a moan of his own when he caught sight of the outline of his cock. He was already fully erect by his kissing and teasing alone. Noiz squeezed the shape of his dick, drawing out a weak whimper in return.  
He massaged the shaft with the palm of his hand, sending a shock of electricity throughout Aoba’s entire body. Then he dipped down, enveloping his mouth around the front of his underwear. He hollowed out his cheeks and sucked hard. He ran his tongue over the length, over to where the head was beginning to stain the fabric with pre-cum.  
He hummed in delight at the moans he managed to elicit from above. His touches were almost satisfying, if it weren’t for the layer of fabric muffling them. Aoba’s moans became frustrated whimpers the more Noiz kissed up and down his stiffened cock.

“Q-Quit teasing,” Aoba hissed, rolling his hips upwards to signify what he wanted.  
Noiz lifted his head from his crotch and grinned softly. The dim light from overhead caught the saliva on his lips.  
“Be patient,” he crooned. “I want to make you feel good all over.”

Then he brought his hands to Aoba’s hips, that area being keenly sensitive. Fingers delicately skirted over his hipbones, over his lower torso, up towards his navel as his lips travelled further downwards, kissing and biting Aoba’s thighs.

He didn’t get very far before Aoba whined in desperation again—trembling hands buried into his hair and tugged hard to rally his attention.

“Noiz, really…” Aoba begged, slightly panting. Noiz broke apart and eyes moved towards Aoba’s face. His skin was flushed red from embarrassment and arousal. “ _Please_.”

Noiz heaved a sigh and gave in. “Fine, fine.”

He pulled Aoba’s underwear down to his knees. His cock was swollen and red, already wet and glistening, slightly twitching from the change of temperature. Noiz curled his hand around the head and moved slowly, spreading the pre-cum along the length to slicken his movements.  
Aoba moaned and clenched his eyes shut—all of Noiz’s gentle toying had turned him on so much, even the slightest touch felt incredible. In his mind, he had already prepared to suck Aoba off, but he was stimulated enough from being jerked off. He kept at the gentle, slow pace instead.

Noiz re-positioned himself in bed, laying by Aoba’s side with his head nestled into the side of his neck. He squeezed his hand tighter around his cock, slowing down his strokes as he kissed him on the back of his ear. Aoba over-reacted and bit his lower lip to prevent a loud moan from spilling out.  
“Feel good?” he whispered into the whorls of Aoba’s ear.  
“Ah… yes… _m-more_ …”

Noiz continued to lick and kiss the sensitive back of his ear. He focused his strokes over where Aoba enjoyed being touched most, rubbing the head of his dick in circles, moving back down and gripping harder at the hilt. He alternated between working quickly and going back to slow, loving movements—teetering Aoba closer and closer to the edge of climax without going over. But keeping his tempo grew increasingly more difficult how Aoba’s hips moved in tune with Noiz. If he tried to work slow, Aoba grew inpatient and rolled his hips upwards, fucking Noiz’s palm in a frantic pace.

So he gave up trying to work slow and directed all his focus on bringing Aoba to climax. He pumped his hand faster, pressed his thumb against the pre-cum dripping from the tip. Aoba bit his lower lip to try to keep his voice down, but in vain. He had lost all restraint from keeping his voice at bay, too eager to cum to care.

Aoba threw his head back, clammy forehead pressed against Noiz’s, his face scrunched together with pleasure. Noiz licked down the side of his face—Aoba seized the opportunity and pulled him into a fierce, open-mouthed kiss, tongues wrapping around one another, sucking hard.

Suddenly, the movements of his hips slowed and his body went rigid. Aoba filled Noiz’s mouth with a muffled scream as he came hard, jock twitching and spilling cum over Noiz’s hand and over his own chest. He pulled out of the kiss to grasp for air, whimpering still as he rode off the end of his high.  
Once satisfied, he rolled away from Noiz sank further into the bed. He closed his eyes, lifeless save for the frantic rising and falling of his chest.

Noiz reached over to the side table and grabbed a couple of tissues. He wiped his hand clean, then Aoba’s stomach, and then pulled his underwear back on. He momentarily left the bed to discard the waste and grab Aoba’s shirt off the floor.  
He flicked off the bedroom light, pulled the sheets over his boyfriend, and slid into bed beside him. He brushed his thumb against Aoba’s cheek to check if he was awake. He stirred slightly, turning his neck to the side towards Noiz. Eyes fluttered open, the gold visible even in the dim light.

“Do you feel relaxed now?” Noiz asked, pulling the sheets tighter around the two of them.  
Aoba nodded and averted his eyes in embarrassment.  
“Yeah, I do,” he mumbled. “T-Thanks.”  
“You don’t have to thank me, you know. Now you can get some rest without feeling so tense.”

Noiz leaned in closer still and wrapped Aoba into a hug.  
“Next time, and the next time, and the time after that, I’ll try to book flights on good weather days.”

Aoba laughed. He had the first genuinely happy smile Noiz had seen all day—seeing him smile radiated joy and warmth throughout his chest.  
“I appreciate that, really. But weather is impossible to predict. Don’t worry, I’ll get used to flying… it just takes a bit of time, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“So I’ll learn to get used to it. Or maybe ask Granny if she has some medicine that’ll stop me from worrying.”

Aoba dipped in for another kiss.  
“After a good night’s rest, I think I’ll feel completely better. Goodnight, Noiz.”  
“Goodnight, Aoba.”

Aoba returned the hug and rested his head against Noiz’s chest. He drifted off to sleep quickly, lulled into deep sleep from Noiz’s warmth.  
Even if he was on the verge of falling asleep himself, Noiz remained awake to watch over Aoba, to make sure he fell asleep peacefully. He ran circles over his back, weaved his hands through his hair, felt Aoba breathe against his chest until he was certain he was fast asleep.

The last thing he saw was the faintest glimpse of a smile curled on Aoba’s lips. Relieved, he too drifted off to sleep.


	14. This Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt request: "I think I'm falling in love with you."

_Knock knock knock._

By the sound, Noiz immediately knew who it was on the other side of his hospital door. An involuntary smile spring over his face and he set his magazine to the side. And as he usually did, he called out the same two words:   
“Come in.”

Immediately the door slid open, and the face he had grown accustomed to seeing every day, even anticipating seeing standing there once he left— Aoba, smiling softly as their eyes met.   
“How’s the patient doing today?” he teased as he walked in to the bedroom.   
“Better. Now that you’re here,” Noiz replied, causing Aoba to roll his eyes and groan.

Aoba pulled off his coat and draped it over the side of his usual spot—a plastic chair he had pulled close to Noiz’s bedside. He set his duffel bag down carefully on the floor and took his seat, all the while covering his mouth in a vain attempt to hide a yawn.

Noiz watched him with fascination, finding every movement that Aoba made both interesting and endearing. Once they were eye-to-eye, Noiz smirked and inched forward.   
“Where’s my kiss?”

Aoba turned bright red. “ _Gimme a second!_ I just got here. Jeez, you’re so impatient.”   
“I’ve been wanting to kiss you all day, is all,” Noiz explained.

Aoba made an embarrassed noise in the back of his throat, but nonetheless rose from his chair, and planted his hands down on the bed. He leaned forward with lips puckered, to kiss him on the cheek.   
Noiz turned his head just in time for their lips to meet, instead. He lingered there for a moment, then broke apart, falling back into bed with a satisfied sigh.   
“Was that a good enough kiss?” Aoba hissed under his breath, and Noiz nodded.

He looked Aoba over fully for the first time since he arrived, and something caught his eye.   
Aoba wasn’t acting like his usual self. He was always quick to get embarrassed and had a penchant for being grumpy, but this was different. He looked on edge, as his shoulders were hunched up and there were faint circles under his eyes that weren’t there yesterday.

“Are you alright?” he asked. “You look stressed.”   
“Mmh… yeah, I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I was up late because I thought I found something off in Ren’s coding.”   
“What was it?”   
“It was nothing, really. Some software needed updating.” While he spoke, Aoba reached down into his bag and pulled out Ren, setting him in his lap. The blue ball of fluff remained asleep as Aoba petted him, protectively hugging him close. He continued after another yawn.

“But it took a while, so I didn’t get to bed until super late. If I had noticed earlier in the day, maybe I could have fixed it quicker, but…”   
Aoba shrugged, then yawned again. “And then the brats wouldn’t leave me alone today, and Heibon was so busy with orders…”

As Aoba continued to roll off his ailments, Noiz glanced down at his bed. He frowned while in thought. Being mindful of his injuries, Noiz moved to the side, providing adequate room for another person in the cramped bed. He patted the expanse of space he had made.   
“You can rest here, I don’t mind,” he said.

Aoba stared down at his bed, a hesitant look growing over his face. “A-Are you sure?” he stammered. “I-It doesn’t seem fair… f-for me to sleep while I’m visiting you.”   
“It’s fine. Haven’t there been times before where you’ve visited, and I’d fallen asleep?”   
“Well, yeah… o-one or two times.”

He yawned again; he finally gave into his exhaustion and admitted defeat. “In that case, I guess you’re right.”

He smiled tiredly and set Ren back down in the security of his bag, then slipped off his shoes and set them aside. Awkwardly he climbed into bed, being careful not to disrupt Noiz’s injuries or make him move too much. But Noiz didn’t mind; it felt nice when Aoba’s arms brushed against his, and his collected warmth spreading at his side.

Once settled in, Aoba laid awkwardly on his side, one arm tucked underneath the pillow and the other resting on his hip. He tried to take as little space on the bed as he could, but he looked uncomfortable, hilariously so.

“Like this?” he asked, his blush creeping further down his cheeks down to his neck.   
Noiz sighed and narrowed his eyes. “Closer. Get comfortable.”   
“But what about your injuries…” Aoba gave up mid-sentence; they had done much more than merely lying together, when Noiz’s injuries were much worse than now.

He moved around so that he wasn’t pinned up against the side of the bed; he took up more space so that he was lying comfortably— his side touched Noiz’s, his legs bumped against his, and they were lying close enough that their faces were inches apart.   
Every bit of Aoba was flooding Noiz’s senses—sight, touch, smell. He was intoxicated by him.

Even if they didn’t get more intimate than resting by each other’s sides, he was happy having Aoba this close, trusting him enough to fall asleep at his side.  
Their eyes lingered on each other’s for a while, silent as they drank in one another while lost in their own thoughts.   
Once contented, Aoba exhaled softly and forced his eyes shut.

Several minutes passed with Aoba remaining like that, but his face scrunched up the further minutes passed. His brows were drawn together and his lips were set in a scowl. Try as he might to force himself to sleep, he couldn’t.   
He snapped his eyes open and audibly groaned. He flopped over onto his other side, away from Noiz.

“I can’t sleep when I can feel you watching me,” he grumbled. “It’s embarrassing.”   
“Then what am I supposed to do?” Noiz asked, trying to stifle a laugh.   
“I… I don’t know! Pretend I’m not here.”

An awkward silence grew between them as Aoba continued to try and fall sleep, but with little so no avail.   
Noiz cocked his head and studied the tresses of hair falling down Aoba’s shoulders, down his back. It looked tantalizing…   
“I remember you saying your hair used to hurt,” he murmured. “Does it still?”   
“No, not really. Why?”   
“Because…”

Gently he reached over and cupped his hand to the back of Aoba’s head. His first reaction was to pull away and turn around to shoot a look at Noiz.

“I want to learn everything about you. I want to know what your hair feels like… but I don’t want to hurt you. So, is this okay?”   
Aoba paused for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, it’s okay. I’ve never let anyone touch my hair before so it just… surprised me. But I don’t mind. I wonder what it feels like to have someone touch my hair.”  
“I’ll be careful,” Noiz reassured him.

At that, Aoba relaxed again and let Noiz continue touching his hair. He ran his fingers over it tentatively, the sensation being more like fingers skirting over its surface rather than genuinely feeling it. He leaned over a bit so he could watch Aoba’s reactions, to look for any sign that he was causing him pain— he would stop then and there if he saw the slightest look of pain.   
But he didn’t see anything. In fact, Aoba seemed to be enjoying himself. After a while, his eyes had drifted closed again and soft, pleasant sounds left his mouth.

He shifted a little in bed, one eye opened and met Noiz’s glance. A small smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.   
“That feels really nice…” he whispered, sounding almost surprised. He closed his eyes again. “Don’t… stop…”

Relieved, Noiz moved his hands over more of his hair by brushing his hands through it, interweaving locks of hair between his fingers then letting them fall. He smoothed down Aoba’s hair, all the way from the root down to the tips in repetitive motions.   
Thanks to his gentle touching, Aoba overcame his apprehensive anxieties and fell asleep.

Noiz continued to run his hands through his hair; it felt just like he had imagined it would— it was soft and slick underneath his touch. He wanted to memorize the feeling so that he could recall the feeling on a whim.

To simply hold Aoba, to feel his warmth, and to smell his scent… Noiz could get accustomed to doing this more often.

He had never felt so close with someone else. Throughout his entire life, he’d been alone— he thought it was normal to live like that. It was better for him to live alone, anyway; he was the weird one, he could accidentally hurt someone if they got too close. People only wanted his money or his power or his information, anyway.

The only world that he knew was a cruel one— a cold and dark world, hidden from the light.   
But Aoba had truly showed him a better world, the _real_ world. He gave him a new way to stare into the light and not be blinded by its glare.

Aoba accepted him as he was, and stubbornly forced his way into his heart to expose his true self. For the first time since he was young, he felt as though he didn’t keep a barrier up between himself and another person. He was fascinated by Aoba and all of his mysteries— piece by piece, he wanted to uncover them, to know more about him as Aoba learned more about him.   
Noiz didn’t know how to explain it, this closeness that had grown between them… but the closest thing he could think of was… that.

Throughout the time he’d spent cooped up in this hospital, he asked himself: could he honestly feel that, if he had never truly known what it was before he met Aoba?   
Regardless, Noiz knew how he felt. He wouldn’t have considered the possibility if he didn’t know it was true.

With a small sigh, Noiz inched forward, being careful not to stir Aoba from his sleep. He tucked a strand of hair behind Aoba’s ear, then his hands lingered against his neck. He leaned in even closer and pressed a kiss against the back of his ear.

“I think I’m falling in love with you,” he whispered. Even if Aoba was awake, he said it quietly enough that he could hardly hear it.

Saying it out loud put some part of him at ease. He put his soul into those words as he said them—it was real, he was in love.   
Love is feeling your heart race when someone entered a room, or when they smiled, or when you felt their lips against your own. Love is having someone to worry about you, and to worry about them in return.   
_So this is what love feels like._

He continued to watch over Aoba as he slept, watching and learning every incantation he made in his sleep—the faint murmuring, sort snoring—as he recounted the same thought over and over. _This feeling… love. This is love_.


	15. Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz arrives home extremely late after a week-long business trip with only one thought in mind: wanting to see Aoba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve had an idea like this rolling around in my head for months--since Noiz’s Drama CD was released, and I finally needed to expel it. I like thinking about how Noiz and Aoba would slowly shift from two separate bedrooms to sharing a bed together, and this is my interpretation of how it would happen. :3

The last of Noiz’s energy had been drained in the long, grueling flight back home. It was miraculous that he had the strength to haul his luggage with him, or to hail a cab to his apartment.   
He had an exhaustive week spent on a business trip, flying from city to city to meet with various mutual corporations. By the end of it, he had been running on caffeine alone to try and curb the effects of sleep deprivation. (He knew Aoba would scold him for that if he were to ever find out; the thought filled him with warmth.)

Underneath his fatigue, he had only one thought in mind: he wanted to see Aoba. Long video calls spent wishing that they could be together wasn't enough; they could only do so much to mend ache from separation. He needed to feel Aoba’s warmth, needed to see his smile, needed hear his laughter… he needed all of these things that told him he was home.

As he sat in the back of the moving taxi cab, he stared at the glimmering lights of the city overhead. Bright red and soft gold lights twinkled on the surface of the car’s glass, merging into a watercolor painting if Noiz closed his eyes enough.  
Everything was eerily peaceful and beautiful in the early hours of the morning, when the sun was asleep and the moon was obscured by thickets of clouds. The tranquility almost lulled him to sleep.   
In a futile effort to stay awake, he turned away from the car window and started up his Coil; he had to squint to focus on the time the front of his screen. 2:56 AM.   
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Since when did it get so late,” he muttered out loud. There was no way that Aoba would be awake. After he stepped off the plane, he sent Aoba a text saying that he landed. He didn’t expect a response then, and he didn’t expect a response now.   
To double check, he saw if he had received a response from his boyfriend—as expected, nothing.   
_Definitely asleep._

A pang of disappointment leapt all the way into his heart. Throughout the entire plane ride, all he could think about was surprising Aoba as he walked through the front door, to make up for all of the kisses and gentle touches they had missed out on in his absence.   
But he realized that he was being selfish for such things. It was enough to be home, to be near the proximity of the one he loved.  
In the morning, when he wasn't so exhausted and they were both awake, he could properly make up for lost time.

*

Before long, Noiz fell into a hazy half-sleep. He hadn’t noticed when he paid for the ride and carried himself up to his apartment. In one moment, he was looking at his Coil, then the next he was standing in front of the apartment’s front door, carrying his luggage in his hands.   
He sighed tiredly, set down his luggage and unlocked the front door with the aid of his Coil. The lock clicked and he swung the door wide open.

Noiz abandoned his luggage in the middle of the hallway. He could unpack in the morning, all he wanted now was to rest…   
And to just catch a glimpse of Aoba’s face before sleeping.

As through trudging through tar, he kicked off his shoes and undid his tie as he ambled from the hallway to the back of the apartment, where his and Aoba’s separate bedrooms were.   
He shouldered his way into Aoba’s bedroom and glanced around—but there was no sign that Aoba was in here. His bed was still made, and there was no head of blue hair laid out on the pillows.

_Strange._

Confused, he turned back and glanced in the living room and the kitchen to see if he was in there, instead--that maybe he was waiting for him somewhere. Nothing.   
There was… only one other place he could think of where Aoba would be.

Slowly he walked back towards the bedrooms; he opened the door to his room slowly and peered inside.   
Just as he expected, nestled in the middle of his bed, with one of his pillows hugged tight to his chest, was Aoba. His soft breathing made the sheets pulled tight around him move slightly, and in the silence, Noiz could hear the sound of him snoring.

Such a sight subsided the nagging feeling of exhaustion, replaced instead with warmth. _He was home._ Aoba was his home.

Slowly and carefully, as to not wake Aoba from his sleep, he nestled into bed at his side. He didn’t have enough energy to wonder why he was sleeping in his bed, let alone take off the rest of his suit—as soon as his cheek nestled into his pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

*

Noiz awoke from a loud gasp, something almost akin to a shriek. The sheets he was laying on were pulled from underneath him, almost threatening to make him roll off the side of the bed. He gasped, too and his eyes snapped open—all he was aware of was that yellow sunlight was pouring in through the thin slits of his curtains, enveloping everything in a bright, hazy glow.

His eyes focused on the moving shape next to him, glancing upwards to lock eyes with Aoba.

“N-Noiz! You scared me!” Aoba yelled. But his initial shock was replaced immediately by joy. “You’re home already? I thought you weren’t going to be off your flight until this morning!”

“Yeah,” Noiz yawned, settling back into bed and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “I texted you saying I was coming home, but I guess you were asleep by the time you got it.”   
He touched a hand to his chest and realized he was still wearing his suit, and grimaced.

“Tch. I didn’t even change clothes…”   
“What time did you get home?” Aoba asked, resettling into bed at his side.   
“Late.”   
“Hah, I figured that much. You’re still wearing your suit. It’s all wrinkly now.”

They were close enough their noses practically touched, drinking in the presence of the one they had longed to see for days.   
Aoba leaned forward and kissed him tenderly. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and hugged him tight. “Welcome home, Noiz. I missed you.”   
“I missed you, too,” Noiz replied while returning the hug.

Just then, as he relished in feeling Aoba’s body for the first time in days, a thought came to him.   
“Hey… why were you sleeping in my bed?”

It wasn’t unusual for them to share a bed—usually after long nights spent sharing zealous passion and lust, Aoba didn’t have the strength to walk across the hall to his own bedroom. Or sometimes Noiz felt lonely and wandered over to Aoba’s bedroom and fell asleep there. They had their own bedrooms so they could both have his own space. But lately, the amount of time they spent sleeping in the same bed had grown more and more frequent.   
Which Noiz didn’t mind whatsoever; he loved being able to wake up and feel Aoba’s warm body cuddled up close to his, to turn around and see the gentle expression he wore when in the deepest of dreams.

He would gladly share a bed with Aoba every single day— as long as he was comfortable with it.

Aoba remained quiet for some time before he answered Noiz’s question. Awkwardly he pulled out of the hug, sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, and rubbed the back of his neck. He kneaded his teeth into his lower lip.   
“Ah… I don’t know how to say this without making it weird,” he mumbled, fidgeting by bunching the sheets up in his hands. “I… I missed you.”

He squared his shoulders, swallowed hard, and averted his eyes. Awkwardly he fixated on a spot in the duvet and traced his fingertip over the stitch work. Words clumsily spilled out of his mouth as he further admitted the truth:

“I missed your scent. I missed your warmth. I wanted to be close to you while you were gone, somehow.”   
Noiz felt overcome with elation, his heart pattered in his chest. Aoba glanced towards Noiz to gauge his reactions, then quickly looked away again.   
“When you’re away, my room feels empty. In here, it feels like I can be close to you, if just a little. It smells like you… and your bed is _really_ comfortable. I—ah!”

Unable to contain himself any longer, Noiz lunged at Aoba into another tight hug. His boyfriend was bright red at this point, feeling embarrassed and cornered like an animal cornered in his cage.   
“You think my bed is comfortable, but I gave you the most comfortable bed I could buy,” Noiz said with a laugh. “Well, I can say the same about your bedroom, too. Sometimes when you’re away, I’ll sleep in there.”   
“R-Really?”   
“Yeah.”

Aoba laughed softly, his embarrassment appearing to die down.

After a long pause, he looked up into Noiz’s face, eyes steely with ambition.   
“Hey, Noiz. I-I haven’t made up my mind yet, but… you said I can use that room however I like, right?”   
“Yes.”   
“Well, what if I wanted to turn it into a guest room?”

The corners of Noiz’s lips curled into the beginnings of a grin.   
“… Are you saying—”   
“Mmhm. O-Only if you’d want to.”

Noiz kissed Aoba on the bridge of his nose and hugged him a little tighter.   
“Of course I’d want to. Whenever you make up your mind, I’d love to share a room. Together.”   
“... Actually, I think I’ve already made up my mind.”  
Again, Aoba kissed him before breaking out of their hug.

“Come on, you must be starving after such a long flight! Let’s make breakfast together... and get out of that suit, okay? No use making it messier than it already is.”

Noiz laughed as he did as he was asked, methodically pulling off his suit to get into something more better suited for a day spent recuperating.   
Before he left his bedroom, he lingered in the threshold and stared at the region of bed Aoba had claimed as his own when he was alone--and he smiled to himself.

Though it might have been only a meager change, deciding on sharing a bed had deeper significance: they were continually growing closer, continually finding ways to fall deeper in love with one another.   
There was no telling what the future had in store from hereon after.


	16. "What sort of noise was that?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting drunk off wine wasn’t how they planned to spend their Saturday evening. But sometimes, things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt request -- "what sort of noise was that?"

Getting drunk off wine wasn’t how they planned to spend their Saturday evening. But sometimes, things happen.

After one glass, Aoba was already teetering towards buzzed, face flushed bright pink and clinging onto Noiz. His boyfriend was much less impervious to the alcohol-- he was buzzed, if only slightly.   
After two, their mouths were kissing and biting whatever exposed region of skin they could find, clumsy hands working off each other’s clothes. How they managed not to spill moscato on the carpet was nothing less than the work from a divinity above.  
After three glasses, they stumbled into their bedroom and continued what they had started in the living room.

Now fully drunk, with minds cloudy from the effect of alcohol and libidos switched to high, they were intertwined with one another, giggling churlish as they moved their bodies in unison.

“T-There… ” Aoba pleaded, arching his back upwards to meet Noiz’s movements. He dragged his hands across Noiz’s shoulder blades to leave intentional red scores. They would leave a mark in the morning, but he knew his boyfriend wouldn’t mind. There was no evidence from their lovemaking that he couldn’t hide underneath a suit.   
“R-Right there… ah… _Noiz,_ m-move… more…”

He kneaded his teeth into his upper lip and buried his head into the pillows. The agony of being toyed with was too much to bear. He wanted to unleash his pent up frustration, and Noiz did too… but Noiz had a slower, more tantalizing method of getting there: holding Aoba out to the end of his rope, so that he had to beg and whine and claw for what he wanted.  
As much as it infuriated Aoba, the buildup to when Noiz gave him what he wanted was _worth it._

Noiz licked his upper lip and nodded, eyes flicking towards Aoba’s face to meet his gaze. His eyes hungrily bore into Aoba before giving him what he wanted by picking up speed; the piercing on the tip of his dick rubbed against his prostate as he pulled out and thrusted in again.

Immediately, Aoba was overcome by sweet numbness building deep inside his hips, tingling all the way town to the tips of his toes, making them curl.

Noiz kissed Aoba’s thigh, resting on his shoulder. “You’re much… louder… when drunk,” he said in between thrusts, voice low and breathless. “You should hear yourself right now...”   
“Am not… _a-ah_!” He couldn’t find the strength to speak in between Noiz’s movements. He closed his eyes and let himself fall deep into pleasure, oblivious to the world besides the pleasure Noiz was giving him.

But even if he was given what he wanted, Aoba still wanted more _._ Noiz was being mindful in his drunken state, but Aoba didn’t care, he _wanted to cum_.   
Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he moved a hand downwards, trailing slowly down his abdomen, for his cock. He pressed his thumb against the slit, using the precum to slicken his hand.   
Aoba whimpered and buried his head even deeper in the pillows, jerking himself off in time with Noiz’s thrusts.   
Somewhere underneath the growing pleasure, he was faintly aware of how shameless he was being and how _loud_ he was moaning. Sounds he had never heard himself make spilled out of his mouth; the part of him that felt shame for his actions was buried deep inside his drunken haze and desire. Even if he wanted to stop himself, he couldn’t. It felt far too good to stop.

And Noiz noticed, too. The more vocal Aoba was, the more erratic his movements became, less focused and hitting Aoba’s walls instead of purposefully bringing him to his peak.

“Ah… you’re so tight inside,” Noiz rasped, leaning in closer so he hovered above Aoba’s face. “Feel good?”   
Aoba nodded several times over as his reply. He felt Noiz’s breath, labored and hot, against his neck, felt as he playfully nipped at his Adam’s apple.

At the same time, Noiz wrapped his hand around Aoba’s and squeezed, working the length of his shaft in time together.

Aoba couldn’t go on like this—he had reached the end of his rope, pleasure seeped through him, moved through his body like white electricity.   
The pleasure of relief welled up inside his hips, and he was just on the cusp of release…

But then time froze still, and all the pleasure that Noiz was showering with him ceased as once.   
He could still feel Noiz’s cock idly twitching inside of him, but he didn’t move. He could feel his warm breath against his skin, but he didn’t lick or kiss him.

Confused, Aoba opened his eyes to stare at Noiz.   
“Why… did you stop…” he slurred, blinking away the tears clouding his vision.

Noiz was staring straight at him, humored. He had that cocky smirk he always wore when teasing Aoba like this.

“Heeh, that sound you just made…” he said in between gasps for air. “What sort of noise was that? I’ve never… heard that before.”  
“I don’t know… _sound_? What... sound...” Aoba murmured, still lost. His body and mind were both hazy and hard to maintain; he tried to move past his cloudy mind to think.

He vaguely remembered hearing himself, but he had been too focused on cumming that he didn’t care to stop. Mortified, he buried his face in his hands and turned his body away from Noiz… as much as he could while they were still connected. The blush creeping up his face was disguised by how brazenly red he was from the aftereffects of wine.   
“I… I dunno,” he hissed into the pillows, rubbing his flushing cheeks with his palms. “It just… s-sorta… happened...”

“It was sexy.” Noiz laughed and leaning in closer to carefully pry Aoba’s hands away from his face. “… And cute.”   
Then, like a predator toying with its prey before gobbling it whole, his eyes narrowed, no longer set on being gentle. “ _Make it again._ ”

He grabbed Aoba’s knees and angled them higher, his cock fitting deeper inside of him as he moved. Aoba gasped and flung his arms around Noiz’s neck, holding onto him for dear life as he was pounded into. The pleasure that had been building in his hips now rekindled washed out his embarrassment.

Noiz was relentless as he pounded into him, focusing all his thrusts to the spot where Aoba felt it most. Aoba couldn’t help but whimper out Noiz’s name as his sensitive body was showered in over-stimulation. Uncomfortable heat burned him from the inside out.

He was too aware of himself now that Noiz mentioned how loud he was being; no matter how good he was feeling, he couldn’t get past the shame that came with making such _lewd_ noises.   
He tried to keep his lips pressed together to stop himself from crying out… to no avail.

Instead he unlatched a hand from Noiz’s neck and brought it to his mouth, biting down into his thumb to hold back his voice. That way his voice wouldn’t slip through.  
The closer he felt himself reaching his climax, he bit down harder on the bed of skin; his voice remained stuck in the back of his throat, stuck there with no place to escape.

But that didn’t last long either—he felt a hand tugging on his own, gently prying his hand away from his face. Aoba opened eye to see Noiz again, hanging so close to his face that his hair tickled his cheeks. He continued to rock in and out slowly as he spoke.

“Don’t be ashamed,” Noiz whispered softly, the green cloudy in the cocktail of alcohol and lust pooling inside them. “Let me hear your voice.”

Aoba hesitated for a moment, but he gave in with a small sigh. He reached upwards, cupping his hand to the back of Noiz’s head, feeling the warmth of his skin.   
“Then… stop being a tease,” he said with a smirk.

Noiz returned the smirk and picked up his pace again, returning his hands to Aoba’s thighs to hold them steady as he moved.   
His mind became static as the feeling of release grew. He ignored the sound of his moans and focused instead on the movements inside of him, Noiz knowingly hitting him right against his prostate, urging him to cum.

It only took a couple thrusts before Aoba’s orgasm hit him like a spark of lightning—fast and intense, the aftershock blinding him with bright, vivid light. Immediately afterwards, Noiz cried out his name and his movements stilled. His cock pulsed inside of him, telling Aoba he had come.

They both remained still while panting, basking in their afterglows. Noiz topped forward at Aoba’s side, draping one arm over his torso in a weak hug.

“So you really do get drunk easily…” he chuckled. “It’s kind of funny.”  
“Shuddup… no I don’t…” Aoba retorted, lips drawn in a defensive frown.

Noiz’s face read that he had more to say, but let it drop with a smirk and a small shake of his head. He wrapped his arms around Aoba and pulled him into a hug, resting his head inside the crook of his shoulder. His eyes drifted closed and—after seemingly using the last bit of his energy— drifted off to sleep.

Aoba waded out until the room stopped spinning before even thinking of falling asleep. In the meantime he played with Noiz’s hair and watched as his boyfriend peacefully slept.   
Realization hit him that this was the first time he had ever seen Noiz actually drunk. They had gone drinking before, but he was ready to go home well before Noiz had gotten drunk.

Noiz was much more of a composed drunk than he was, and he spoke so smoothly it was almost hard to hear the effects of alcohol on him. He probably wasn’t as much of a lightweight as Aoba was, either… Germans were better at holding their liquor, weren’t they?  
Regardless, Aoba thought it was cute that he was clingier than usual and that his cheeks morphed into a bright pink.

Getting drunk and having sex wasn’t what they had in store for the day, but it was another new experience they had shared together.


	17. Only You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Aoba share their first dance together on their wedding night.

“Come on! It’s traditional that the wedded couple take the first dance,” Theo asserted as he overly-enthusiastically nudged Aoba’s shoulder. “You two have been practicing for months!”   
“But…” Aoba sighed in resignation; he looked over the faces of his friends and family staring eagerly at the wedded couple, feeling his stomach drop when he did so.

He turned his head away from the crowd and found Noiz at his side, brows drawn together with concern.   
“Are you still nervous?” he asked.   
Aoba sighed to calm himself and nodded, once. “A-A bit.”   
“Don’t be. If you forget the steps just follow my lead, okay?”   
“… Alright.”

Noiz led him to the center of the dance floor--large and pristine white, everything decorated in strings of lights that glimmered like the night sky.   
He encircled Aoba so that he was no longer on his side, but standing right in front of him. He looked so handsome with his hair slicked back, Aoba thought… and in that white suit that matched his own…

Noiz smiled softly and reached out for Aoba’s other hand.   
“So, may I have this dance?”

Now he really had no other option but to dance. His face felt hot and his palms felt dry against Noiz’s. He was about to make a fool of himself in front of Koujaku, Mizuki, Clear, Tae, Haga, and everyone else, he was sure of it. ... But if he backed out, he knew he would regret it just as much.   
This was his wedding day, afterall.

Thinking about everything that had happened throughout the day was almost impossible, putting words to them even moreso. Their ceremony had been _perfect_ , their reception as well… but to be nearing the end of this perfect day felt bittersweet.

 

He only wished it could last longer.

Tenderly, Noiz wrapped one arm around Aoba’s waist, and Aoba rested his hand on Noiz’s chest—momentarily admiring the band around his finger. They intertwined their other hands and stood silent, waiting for the music to begin.   
Aoba glanced up at Noiz—he was cool and collected, not a trace of nerves to be seen on his entire face. Seeing him so calm about the situation made the butterflies in his anxieties settle a little bit.

But as soon as the music began, his fright came rushing back.

He nervously fumbled over his and Noiz’s legs, nearly threatening to make them teeter off balance with his clumsy attempts at dancing. He still felt preening eyes focused on him and it made him restless.   
But Noiz was caring and patient, he followed their steps until Aoba recalled their patterns.   
Then it was just like the countless hours they had spent rehearsing; piece by piece, the people watching them faded away into the background. All that was left was the two of them and the sound of music—soft guitar and piano, playing together in harmony.

His body moved to the slow rhythm, mostly being carried along by Noiz. At he danced, he fell into a trance, deep in thought. It was the first time all day he had time to think, he had been running constantly since the day began; and ever since their ceremony, he had been a mess of emotions running amok, making thinking nearly impossible.

Even if he knew this was reality, part of him still felt like he was lost inside a dream.

It had been years since he first met Noiz, their first encounter being nothing less than a mess of empty threats and a collection of nearly broken limbs.   
But as they ventured towards their mission Platinum Jail, Aoba felt himself becoming closer to Noiz. He didn’t want to leave him alone, he didn’t want him to walk blindly into danger. Noiz had been a strange kid and was unpredictable, but that drew him closer to Noiz’s side. He wanted to tend to his wounds for him.

When he entered Noiz’s mind, he had seen the terrible truth he had disguised underneath years of isolation. He had a gentle heart, and because he didn’t want to hurt others he closed himself away from them.   
But Aoba broke though that, made Noiz open his heart to him and gave him the ability to feel.

From then on, Aoba had wanted to both show Noiz the world and give him the world.

Back when they had first met, Aoba would have never imagined that one day, he would someday call that same young man his husband.  
Yet here he was. Noiz was his husband—and his last name was now _Seragaki,_ no less.

Noiz had grown up so much since Aoba had met him. He was so proud and _so happy_ to see him mature firsthand.   
Something about reminding himself that set off a heap of emotions inside him, bubbling up and threatening to overflow.

Aoba was startled out of his thoughts when he felt something soft brush against his cheek. He blinked a couple times, his train of thought left with them, and he came back to reality.   
The first—and only—thing he paid attention to was Noiz. He was staring directly at him, face just centimeters next to his, wearing a gentle smile. Out of his peripheral he could see that whatever was tickling his cheek was actually the side of Noiz’s thumb.   
Confused, he wordlessly stared up at him.

“You had started to cry,” Noiz explained, moving his hand away to show the evidence to him, the tears collected on the bed of his thumb.  
While lost in his thoughts, Aoba hadn’t even noticed. He didn’t feel the hard lump collected the back of his throat or when his eyes began to sting, let alone the onset of tears.   
“Ah… so I did.” He sniffed, swallowing down the rest of his tears. “Sorry.”

Noiz chuckled and brushed his thumb over Aoba’s cheek again, for safe measure. He brought his hand back to the center of his back. “No need to be sorry. Are you alright?”   
“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just… I’m so happy.”

He rested his head against Noiz’s shoulder, and sighed. “I was just thinking about things like how happy I am to be here with you.”   
“Me, too. I’ve never thought it was possible to feel this happy. It feels so surreal. I...”

Noiz let his sentence die away; Aoba understood what he felt, regardless. He couldn’t put words to what he felt, either.   
Instead they savored the quiet, slowly dancing as their song faded out and another one started afterwards. A couple of other people— the ones who had a lot to drink, mostly— started dancing, as well.   
Yet in this moment, all that mattered was each other. Their eyes remained locked as their bodies danced in unison.

When they turned and the canvas of glittering lights shone upon them _just right_ , Aoba could swear he saw tears collecting in the corners of Noiz’s eyes. Perhaps Noiz had been entranced in his own thoughts, too, and hadn’t noticed.   
He reached up and kissed the corners of one of his eyes.

“Now you’re crying. You were the first one to cry at the ceremony, you know,” he teased.   
Noiz snorted. He curled his lips into a smirk and returned the teasing. “At least I didn’t start crying so hard that I could barely finish saying my vows.”   
His tone softened, as did the look on his face. He gripped onto Aoba’s hand tighter. “But I think we’ve both cried enough today as it is. A couple more tears won’t hurt, will they?”

He leaned down and kissed Aoba on the corner of his mouth, lips lingering there for a couple moments. “I love you, Aoba.”   
“I love you, Noiz.” He hesitated, then grinned. “ _Seragaki_ Noiz, that is. Feels good to say that.”   
“It does, doesn’t it?”

Noiz laughed before kissing Aoba one again, this time deeper and longer than before. He unwound his hand from his husband’s and held him, instead, in a close hug.   
They continued to dance slowly through the next song and the next, completely oblivious to the world around them; as they swayed, they shared silent ‘thank-you’s’ while wrapped inside one another’s embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this thought for a while about Noiz and Aoba dancing on their wedding to an acoustic version of "Your Reply." /__; And I've wanted to write something for their wedding day for a while.  
> Hopefully someday soon, I'll be able to write more.


	18. First of Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had a long day ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for day 1 of NoiAo week-- firsts!

Just a couple days ago, Aoba would have never imagined he’d end up here.

The sequence of events that lead to him being here were the furthest thoughts in his mind— that Noiz would suddenly re-appear, that he would ask Tae to entrust Aoba to him, that when he woke up in the morning, the two of them would take to the skies, to Germany.

In the matter of a week, he’d gone from teetering on the threshold of losing hope, wondering when he would see Noiz again, to lying beside him in bed, inside a hotel room three times bigger than his own bedroom.

As happy as he was, it still felt surreal. He had to ask himself more than once if this was all just some elaborate prank or some dream he didn't want to part from. Everything was rushing past him so quickly, it felt like he’d been submerged under water, his head just barely breaking the surface, having only the faintest chance to catch his breath.   
Fear started to get to him, gripping onto him tightly, with no intention of letting go.

For starters, he had never traveled before, let alone left Midorijima. Now he was on his way to fly halfway across the globe— fly being the keyword, being stuck inside a chunk of metal that could easily fall out of the sky. What would happen if it did fall? He wasn’t ready for an early grave just yet.  

And he was moving to a country with a culture and language completely unlike his own. Sure, he had Ren and his Coil, but what if he was ever caught in a situation where he didn’t have either? How would he learn to speak German?

More than any of that, he was stepping into an entirely different world. Noiz’s world, the one of the elite and upper class. As much as it touched his heart that Noiz went back to the life he’d ran away from, all for him, he couldn’t help but feel… out of place. Just a couple hours before Noiz had reassured him, quieted his thoughts by telling him that he wanted him and him alone.

But was he really good enough? He knew it was silly to keep asking himself that, but the anxiety and fear bubbling up inside him couldn’t stop pulling and nagging at those thoughts.

He rolled onto his back and sighed, forcing his eyes open. The lights from what remained of Platinum Jail seeped through the windows, creating long, dark shadows on the ceiling.

He couldn’t sleep like this, not when his thoughts were running at a million miles an hour. He wished he could be asleep, wished he could spend his last night in Midorijima in peace, but he couldn’t stop replaying the same thoughts over and over.

From the other side of the bed, he heard a soft sigh and felt the sheets rustle about. He turned his head to find Noiz, still fast asleep.

His heart fluttered in his chest, a tightness welling up inside of him. Noiz looked so peaceful in his sleep-- his face serene and relaxed, a faint smile on the corners of his lips. He slept so adorably, too, the way he hugged an arm around his pillow and wrapped the sheets tight around him.

A sudden realization came to him: this was the first time he had seen Noiz like this. This is the first time they had really shared a bed together. Sure, there were a couple times in the hospital where they’d end up laying side by side in Noiz’s hospital bed—but Noiz was restricted by his injuries, and the space was tiny and cramped. This is what Noiz truly looked like in his sleep, who looked so happy that Aoba couldn't help but stare.

… Was that because Aoba was next to him?

Did Noiz feel as nervous and excited as he was? Did he have the same worries about not being good enough? He had gone all the way back to his family and worked hard for this moment, all for Aoba’s sake. He must have had the same worries, the same fears about what would happen once they landed in Germany.

But Aoba had another realization, one that he knew in the back of his mind was true. No matter what happened, as long as they had each other at their side, everything would be alright. Knowing Noiz, he had probably thought about everything that Aoba was worrying himself over, and already had a solution.

As long as they worked together, the problems they faced would sort themselves out. Aoba loved Noiz enough to work hard to get them out of any problem, just as Noiz had done the same for him.

So there was no need to worry about what couldn’t be changed— all he had to do was enjoy this moment, take in this first of the many firsts he would soon share with Noiz.

Finding relief, Aoba exhaled and turned on his side, facing Noiz.

He still felt a little too restless to sleep, the butterflies in his stomach wouldn’t cease. To calm himself, he stayed where he could watch Noiz as he slept, studying the intricate features of his face— his smile, how he exhaled softly, slowly, the faint remnants of scars left from his piercings.

Despite all his anxieties and nerves, he was excited to make a life together with Noiz. He wanted to explore the world with him, wanted to show him everything he hadn’t had the opportunity to discover before. Perhaps that’s why he was so nervous, because he wanted Noiz to have the best in life. So then, he would try his hardest to give that to him. He swore to it.

Suddenly, something pulled him out of his thoughts. Noiz shifted in bed a little more, groaning as he lifted his head from the pillow. He opened one eye slowly, focusing his half-awake gaze onto Aoba.

“Hmm? Is everything alright?” Noiz whispered, voice heavy with sleep. He reached over, loosely running his hand down Aoba’s side. The warmth of his palm was relaxing, soothing, like just a simple touch alone was enough to quiet his racing thoughts.

Aoba smiled softly, pulling himself closer toward Noiz. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just… excited.”

He leaned over, kissing Noiz on the bridge of his nose. “Go back to sleep.”

“Mm. You too.”

Noiz closed his eyes again, falling back asleep quickly. Aoba closed his eyes, let his mind relax, and slowly, finally drifted off to sleep.

Tomorrow was one of the biggest days in his life; he needed as much sleep as he could get.


	19. Morning Indulgence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for "is that my shirt?"

Noiz ran his hands through his hair to wring free the remaining water. With a tired sigh, he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry his body with.

He really, really didn’t feel like going to work today.

Most days he could resist the urge to stay curled up in bed, watching his lover as he slept peacefully in the crook of his arms. But today, finding the strength to pull himself out of bed was close to nonexistent. Aoba had felt so warm, such stark contrast to the cold winter storm that raged outside. The weekend couldn’t appear faster, so they could spend time together in the midst of doing nothing, savoring each other’s warmth as they remained huddled close for hours.

Two more days. Then he could spend the weekend doing nothing but being with Aoba. Be it staying close, cuddled for warmth or walking hand in hand while watching snowflakes dance, he didn’t care. Just to share their time together, unsolicited and free to do whatever they pleased…

That thought was his motivation; work hard and be diligent and he could have that reward.   
He yawned and wrapped the towel around his lower half. He ambled out of the bathroom into the bedroom, and glanced around. Everything was still and basked in the bright light of morning. Besides Ren curled up on the end of the bed, it was empty— Aoba’s side was a mess of sheets thrown about like he had just freshly pulled himself out of bed. Probably brewing coffee, Noiz guessed.

That was, until he turned to enter his closet and he crashed straight into another body, turning to leave the closet at the same time.

“N-Noiz!” Aoba gasped. He stared dead up at Noiz, mouth agape from shock… Noiz also noticed that his cheeks were flushed pink; as his eyes scanned downwards, towards his bare chest, the blush intensified.   
“Ah… sorry, I was just…” he stammered, but quickly fell into awkward silence. He cast his eyes downwards in embarrassment.

Noiz’s eyes followed Aoba’s, towards his chest and down to his hands, which toyed with the top button of a collar—   
He blinked. “Is that my shirt?”

Indeed, Aoba was wearing one of his white undershirts—a size too large for his slim body, the bottoms of the shirt barely covering himself.

“Should I not have put it on?” Aoba pouted, returning the question back to him. “It’s comfortable, and smells like you.”

Aoba paused for a moment before he sighed softly. “I wish you didn’t have to go so early today. Just stay here for a little but longer…”   
He turned his gaze upwards to catch Noiz’s eye, lips curling into a coy smile. “I had a dream about you last night, and it felt so real, too… but I guess it will just have to wait until tonight.”   
That piqued Noiz’s attention. “What sort of dream?”   
“Heh, you’ll have to _guess_.”

Aoba smile grew into a playful smirk, making Noiz’s heart flutter in his chest at the sight. When he felt like it, Aoba knew what to do to make him weak to his own desires. Not that it took much— a gentle grin, or a lively laugh, or a hungry look was all it took. He loved it when Aoba took initiative.   
Noiz felt warm hands touch the side of his face, then watched as Aoba leaned upwards to kiss Noiz’s forehead, still damp from his shower. Then down to the bridge of his nose, then the cleft of his upper lip, with touches so delicate it took all of Noiz’s strength not to do more to deepen their intensity.

After a sated sigh, Noiz grabbed Aoba by his forearms and pulled him in for a deep kiss; Aoba didn’t waste a moment to surrender, opening his mouth to let Noiz’s tongue inside, finding his and kissing him until their lungs screamed for air.

When they broke apart, Aoba stared at him hungrily, an unsated lust flickering around in his eyes. Aoba clearly wanted him as much as he wanted Aoba—there was no turning back from this point now.

He grabbed Aoba by his wrist, absently rubbing his thumb against the cuff of his shirt.   
“Keep this on,” he requested; Aoba laughed, but nodded in agreeance nonetheless.   
Then Aoba pulled on his arm, steering the two of them towards their bed. He let go and sank into the sheets with a soft thud.

An idea flitted into Noiz’s head, to tell his brother he was going to be late before he received a stream of messages asking if he was okay. He grabbed his Coil on the bedside table, flipped through his messages until he found one from Theo. His hands quickly flew over a holographic keyboard that appeared mid-air.

_I’m going to be an hour late today. Sorr_ — He paused. After a quick glance towards Aoba, he smirked, erased his message, and corrected himself.   
_I’m going to be a couple hours late today. Sorry._

With a satisfied hum, Noiz tossed it to the side and focused his attention onto Aoba, splayed out in the center of the bed, blue hair forming a halo around his face, cheeks a soft red and lips upturned in a gentle smile.   
Noiz kneeled onto the bed, gradually adding more of his weight as the bedsprings sighed. When their eyes met, Aoba’s smile widened and he stretched his arms out to him, beckoning him closer. Noiz wrapped his bare arms tight around his torso, hugging his lover close to his chest. Inwardly he noticed how he’d wrinkled the fabric of his shirt—but he didn’t care.

His mouth savored the warmth of Aoba’s lips and his hands traced over the outline of his body, pulled further along by the soft moans Aoba murmured against his lips. Just for today, he’d let himself be indulgent.


	20. Reciprocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba turns the tides on Noiz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for "don't you dare stop." :^)

Noiz pulled on the restraints binding his arms to, making sure they were secure. As much as he tried to twist and turn, the leather wouldn’t budge. An odd sense of satisfaction with that fact mixed together with a buzz of excitement for what would happen next.   
Aoba approached him slowly, taking slow strides across the bedroom towards the chair he was fastened to. The honey of his eyes were set ablaze in excitement; the hungry look in his eyes sent a shiver down Noiz’s spine as Aoba devoured him whole with looks alone. A coy smirk upturned the corners of his lips.   
“Long day at work?” he asked, his words a half-statement, half-question. “You look _exhausted_.”

Aoba had said the thing earlier before when Noiz first came home for work—before telling him that he had something in mind to take off the stress.   
He led Noiz back to their room with one of their dining chairs waiting at the foot of their bed, waiting for Noiz. Though curious, Noiz kept his commentary to a minimum; he couldn’t wait to see what Aoba had in store.   
Then his arms were wrapped around the back of the chair, a leather belt weaved in between his wrists and the wooden prongs.

Now Aoba draped an arm over Noiz’s shoulder, hand inching downwards towards the restraint. His knee kneaded into Noiz’s groin, kindling the feeling of desire deep within his hips.

“Just sit back and relax. Let me take care of you right now.”

Aoba pressed his lips to the side of Noiz’s jaw, trailing kisses upwards until their mouths met. He pushed his tongue inside Noiz’s mouth and traced it along the front of his teeth; his hands slowly undid the front of Noiz’s suit, loosened his tie, undid the top buttons of his shirt.   
He parted from their kiss with a satisfied hum and kneeled down by Noiz’s feet— he seized the front of his pants and squeezed hard, causing Noiz to let out a weak whimper from the surprise.

Aoba didn’t hesitate to undo the zipper and stick his hand inside, massaging his palm over his dick. Noiz closed his eyes and let out another sound, this time a sigh of relief. Aoba knew just how to make him feel the best in just a couple quick moves. The feeling was intense— Noiz was already starting to grow hard from it— but it still felt muted between the fabric of his underwear. Pleadingly, he rolled his hips upwards against Aoba’s hand, begging for more.

Aoba glanced up at him and smirked.   
Noiz’s pants slipped down to his knees, along with his underwear. Now entirely exposed, Aoba could touch him wherever he wanted.

He grabbed Noiz’s cock and started to work it slowly, using his fingers to stimulate the more sensitive regions around the hilt of his cock and around the head. Noiz swelled and stiffened in Aoba’s hand until he was almost erect—then Aoba’s mouth replaced his mouth.

He took him in slowly, flicking his tongue against the piercing near the head before pushing more of his length in. The sweetness shot straight to Noiz’s hips and made him beg for more; the warmth and the wetness enveloped around him still felt as enthralling and as exciting as it was the first time he had felt it—all the more because such pleasure thanks to _Aoba_.   
Inch by tedious inch of his dick pushed inside of Aoba’s mouth before he pulled back, sucking him off slowly, but intensively.

He quickened his pace at a methodical pace, moving Noiz’s cock in and out less as he used his tongue to tease him in all the right places, and hollow his cheeks tight around him.   
The pleasure built up in Noiz’s hips, to the brink and to climax…   
But the closer he came to his peak, the less Aoba used his mouth. He had slowly started to pull himself off his cock, too.   
A nagging thought ran through him—that this was intentional, Aoba was denying him completion.

“Don’t you dare stop,” Noiz pleaded, voice lost in a haze, words thick in his throat.   
“Hmm?” Aoba said, the vibrations deep in his throat affecting Noiz. He pulled his mouth off of him, wiped away the spittle, then stared up at him. Something in Aoba’s stare shifted, as if for a brief second a different, golden pair of eyes were staring up at him. The was a look of a challenge mixed around in his eyes, spurred in a look Aoba had been given only a handful of times… but every time, he made sure he wouldn’t forget it.

Aoba chuckled, then pressed a kiss to Noiz’s inner thighs as his hands caressed the back of them, intentionally touching him everywhere but where he needed to be touched. “Or what?”

He lifted himself off his knees to look closer into Noiz’s eyes. His smile widened, then he continued.

“You’ve done this to me before, isn’t it fair that you feel it, too? It’ll be worthwhile in the end.”

… When Aoba said that, in his voice as sweet as honey, Noiz couldn’t fight back. He nodded weakly, eyelids flickering half-closed as the fire growing in his hips died out.

Aoba hesitated, if for a moment. Embarrassment seeped into his cheeks as he inched away from Noiz, the redness darkening as he brought his hands to his crotch. He unzipped his jeans and pulled them down halfway to his knees, revealing the hard outline of his stiffening cock.   
Hesitantly, his eyes flicked up to Noiz’s face; as they met eye to eye, and saw the hungry and pleading look on his face, the second-guessing look faded away. He pulled down his underwear and wrapped his hands around his dick, pressing his thumb against its head. A weak moan spilled from his lips.

He continued to pump himself until he was fully erect, eyes closed and mouth half open, uncaring that Noiz was watching him like a ravenous beast.

In fact… Noiz began to sense that _that_ was Aoba’s intention from the very beginning—to deny him relief as he brought himself to orgasm instead. By taking his mind off of work, Aoba meant he wanted to tease him, to make the desire to cum the only thought running though his mind.

It didn’t take long for Aoba to become fully erect. And it wasn’t much long after that until he was doubled over with the fervor of pleasure, hissing Noiz’s name in between his teeth as he worked himself faster.   
Just as Aoba reached his peak, he flicked his gaze upwards to Noiz’s face, to watch him as he finished himself off. He came with a weak whimper, kneading his teeth into his lower lip to stifle his voice.

For a couple moments he remained stooped over, resting his clean hand on Noiz’s knee to hold himself upright as the pleasant afterglow faded away.   
Yet Noiz was still left with the longing to cum, left unsatisfied, growing stronger as he watched on as Aoba pleasured himself. He was able to contain himself, but the ache had now become hard to bear.

To the best of his ability—as his hands were bound behind his back—he tried to get Aoba’s attention. He reached outwards with his knee, lightly nudging his shoulder.   
“I know,” Aoba huffed. “Be patient.”

Aoba wiped his hands clean, then pulled his pants back on. It took him a moment for him to get back into the role, to wear the same sultry look after having just came.   
His smile morphed into a sultry look at he leaned in forwards again, wrapping a hand around Noiz’s thigh.

“Or are you so impatient that you can’t take it anymore?” he whispered. Noiz’s silence was answer enough.  
Aoba lightly scratched his way down his legs, leaving soft pink marks on the surface of skin. He knew Noiz loved that.   
“Where do you want me to touch you?” Aoba prodded, leaning up from his knees to look Noiz eye-to-eye. “I won’t know if you don’t tell me. Here?”

Aoba traced his fingertips down Noiz’s neck, barely touching the skin more than hovering above it. Noiz growled in the back of his throat—low and needy from the lack of being touched. The more Aoba looked at him, yet denied touching him, the more he was slowly careened towards insanity.

Aoba kissed his earlobe as his hand slowly crawled downwards, for Noiz’s cock.   
“What about here?” he whispered, wrapping his hand around the base of his dick.  
Noiz nodded desperately—it was rare for Aoba to be this sultry, to toy with him and make him claw and spit out what he wanted. Noiz wasn’t shy at all when it came to what he liked, but when Aoba felt like having control, he always knew how to turn him into a panting, pleading mess.

And Noiz loved it.

He rested his head against the back of his chair and sighed relief at finally—finally—having the contact of skin-to-skin that he had been yearning for. Being denied orgasm before made him sensitive to every swift movement of Aoba’s hand.   
From below, he heard Aoba hum with delight at the string of sounds he had ushered out of him. He moved his hand without hesitation, focused now on bringing Noiz to his peak, not stunt him back from it.

He brought his mouth back to Noiz’s cock, dragging his tongue up the underside of the shaft. He pressed soft on his way back down again, used his teeth to gently tug his piercings underneath. Noiz shuddered with the feeling—so light, yet so satisfying he could come from it alone.

Aoba was aware of that, too; Noiz had become so sensitive that he could do whatever he wanted with him. It was all Aoba’s choice when he came.   
But he wasn’t cruel—he wanted to make Noiz feel good, not deny him relief any longer.

Knowing that it would send him over the edge, Aoba brought his mouth back to Noiz’s dick. It only took a couple strokes before Noiz started seeing white and clenched his teeth together as pleasure—incredible, well-earned pleasure— filled him entirely. Aoba’s mouth tightened around him as he swallowed his cum, remnants dribbling down his chin.

Noiz, now sated and exhausted and falling off his high, stared down at Aoba as he cleaned himself off. Sensing eyes on him, Aoba stared back up at him and smiled weakly—a loving, tender smile filled with the same exhaustion Noiz felt.

Working to undo the restraints quickly, Aoba unlatched the belt and wrenched it free. He hissed at the sight—Noiz could only guess it was rougher than he intended it to be.   
Noiz flexed his arms out, causing a faint tinge of pain to surge up from his palms. The pain wasn’t too intense, but it was very much there. He stood up from the chair, then brought them in front of his face, studying the light red scores on his arms.  
Aoba studied them, too, then sighed.

“Sorry.” He traced his thumb over the lines on his forearms, trying to knead away their mark.   
Noiz clenched and unclenched his palms once more, checking to see how they felt. “The pain is fine. Doesn’t hurt too bad, anyway.”   
“That so? Thank goodness.” Relieved, Aoba pulled him into a hug.

“… So I didn’t get too carried away?” he murmured against Noiz’s chest, after a couple comfortable moments of silence.   
“Not at all,” Noiz replied with a small laugh. He ran his hands through Aoba’s hair, then returned the hug.

“Do things like that more often,” he teased. “Maybe while we’re at work, next time.”   
Aoba broke out of their hug— with cheeks flushed an embarrassed red. His eyes narrowed into a playful glare. “You… _perverted brat_! People would notice!”

He ruffled up Noiz’s hair and laughed, then leaned in for a short kiss, which delved into a deeper, meaningful embrace. Still holding each other close, they collapsed into bed to continue their kiss, already starting on round two—even before they had made dinner.

Even if he was the one who usually thought of things for them to try, Noiz liked it when Aoba wanted to take more initiative, to earnestly tell him what things he wanted to try.   
Noiz was willing to try anything if Aoba suggested it.


	21. Coincidences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, the most unexpected things can surprise you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for "that isn't mine." Answering the age old question of whether Noiz or Aoba propose first, hehe

To say that the years Aoba spent living in Germany were happy was a severe understatement. Yes, they had been some of the happiest years of his life thus far, but there was more than that— they had also been some of the most important years in his life, too.

In those years, it had been the first time he had lived outside of Midorijima, thrown into the mercy of a foreign country that he initially knew nothing about.

It had been the first time he had to learn another language in order to communicate— he had Ren and his Coil to help him, but relying on them made him feel helpless.

It had been the first time he held a job that was more than answering calls and filing orders; one could say working as an assistant wasn’t much of a leap, but it was an important step to take. It helped him gain the confidence to follow whatever career his heart desired.

And in those years, he had been in love for the first time.

His life was bliss, filled with more happiness than he had ever expected to know. And now, there was only one final step—one question he wanted to ask Noiz, to show gratitude for the hard work Noiz dedicated himself to, so that they could spend those several years together as happily as possible.

The idea had been firmly rooted in the back of Aoba’s head for months, ever since he had made enough money working to afford a ring.   
Inwardly, from the first moment he felt dead-set in living in Germany permanently, he feltthat no matter what life threw at him and Noiz, there would always be a time where everything lined itself into place.   
Now that he had a ring, all he had to do was find the right moment to ask.

As he slowly roused from his sleep, Aoba rolled over onto his stomach, arms stretching outwards towards Noiz’s empty space of the bed. He yawned and hugged the sheets tighter around himself, not ready to start the day just yet.

“Good morning, Aoba,” Noiz’s voice greeted him from overhead, kissing Aoba on his forehead. A hand, gentle and warm, touched his shoulder, shaking him lightly to keep him from falling asleep again.   
Aoba groaned and tried to shake off his hand. “Mh… just five more minutes,” he mumbled.

Noiz sighed softly. “Nope.”   
He seized the sheets around Aoba and tugged on them hard, pulling it free from Aoba’s vice-like grip. “Ren tried waking you up more than an hour ago, don’t you remember that all?”

Aoba frowned, then shook his head. “No… why would Ren do that?”   
“He told me that you asked him to.”   
“… Weird.”

He wasn’t planning on going to work with Noiz today, and all the things he had planned for the day could wait for another hour or two of sleep. But Noiz was _persistent_. With a small sigh, he came to realize he had no other option; he hoisted himself so he was sitting cross-legged in bed, holding his pillow in between his arms.

“Fine, fine, I’ll get up” he yawned, the sleep still heavy in his voice. “But why are you waking me up all of a sudden…”   
“I have a question to ask you.”   
“… What?”

At that, Noiz turned around and left, heading for the closet, leaving Aoba alone and confused. He returned… holding something enclosed in between his hands. The look on his face was hard to read, a blank slate, if it weren’t for a small smile flitting on the corners of his mouth.

“This morning, I found this in the closet. Is this yours?”

He outstretched his hand and unveiled what he had been hiding— a small, red velvet box.   
A small box that Aoba knew held a ring inside.  
At the sight, he gasped. His heart stopped and fell deep into his chest.

“T-That’s… b-but… how…”  
He was incapable of saying anything else, too many thoughts running through his head at once and none of them forming words—

Ah… Aoba remembered now. Before bed, he had been admiring the ring he had bought the day before. Just as soon as he held the box in his hands, he heard Noiz’s footsteps growing closer and closer; he didn’t want to be seen doing anything suspicious, so he simply set it down to hide it safely later. In the morning, he told himself, he’d wake up before dawn, carefully tuck the ring securely in place. Noiz would be none the wiser of the surprise Aoba had in store for him.

But he had made one fatal mistake— he overslept, even when Ren attempted to wake him up.

Dread bubbled up in the pit of his stomach. The color in his cheeks drained as he stared at the box, unable to speak.

“N-No that isn’t!” Aoba stammered, trying to come up with something, _anything_ he could run with as a lie. “Th-That isn’t mine. I-I’ve never s-seen that b-before in my life.”

Noiz was unconvinced, and so was Aoba; they both knew he was a horrible liar. Instead of calling his bluff, Noiz merely raised his eyebrows and feigned surprise.   
“Really? Then how did it end up here, in the closet?”

“W-Well… yesterday s-someone m-must have slipped it into m-my pocket. I n-noticed it when I got home and p-put it there…” Aoba winced; he could already hear the incongruities in his story, but he couldn’t just come out and admit the truth. He averted his eyes and laughed weakly. “W-What a weird coincidence, right…”   
“It is weird… almost too good to be true.”

By his tone, Aoba knew his weak attempt at saving himself was not persuading Noiz— the grin budding on his face didn’t help, either. Aoba couldn’t bear to look at him anymore, too ashamed to try and continue with his lie; he grabbed the sheets and wrapped them around him tight, burying his face in shame.

He had wanted the moment when he asked Noiz to marry him to be _just right_ —at a restaurant or in a park, somewhere nice and peaceful that bore enough significance they’d always remember the place when they passed by it. But his own negligence trampled those dreams, now the moment wouldn’t be perfect. He felt so embarrassed, he wanted to flee…

Just then he heard Noiz laugh softly and felt his body weight at his side. This time, when he spoke his voice was much gentler, filled with a tender warmth that brought some of Aoba’s anxieties at ease—if only slightly.   
“Then, is this a coincidence, too?”

Curious as to what he was talking about, Aoba peeked his head from underneath the covers— and for the second time in the matter of minutes, his heart stopped again.   
Noiz was holding out another box, identical to the other box he had been holding in everything but color— this one was black embroidered with gold.

Aoba was too shocked to speak, he just continued staring at the box as if his eyes deceived him. He felt as intense heat flooded his cheeks, turning them beet red. Trying to find some means of explanation, his eyes flitted up to Noiz’s face. He smiled softly and brought the box close to his chest, setting Aoba’s box down close to his side.

“So I guess we both had the same idea in mind, huh,” Noiz said, unable to hide the grin growing on his face. “I’ve been holding onto this for a while, waiting for the right moment to ask you.”   
“I-Is that so…” Aoba murmured.   
Relieved a little, he unfurled himself from the blankets. He grabbed the small box close to him, running his thumb along the smooth surface. He had to give up the ghost.   
“I-I wanted to find the perfect moment to ask you, too…”

Noiz exhaled in a soft sigh. “Well, there’s no use waiting anymore. Now is just as good of a time as any, isn’t it?”   
Aoba’s face fell, lost in confusion. “…H-Huh?”   
“I mean… this. Come closer.”

Noiz drew in closer and hoisted Aoba into his arms in a grandiose but meaningless effort in hauling him out of bed, carefully setting him down on his feet.

Reality settled upon Aoba in waves, slowly dawning on what was actually happening right now. He had been anticipating the moment for months, now being faced with it in reality felt almost surreal. _This was really happening…_  
After a quick kiss on the lips, Noiz kneeled down onto one knee. He could hardly contain the excitement on his face or the love in his eyes when staring up at Aoba.

Noiz drew in a long, trembling breath to compose himself, then began.  
“Seragaki Aoba—” He opened the box of the lid, revealing a gleaming silver band, a small emerald gem glistening in the center. As his eyes met Aoba’s, and his smile broadened.   
“ _Will you marry me?_ ”

Aoba took no time to respond, throwing himself forward into a hug— the force throwing Noiz off his balance so they both collapsed on the floor. Aoba laughed and wrapped his arms tighter around Noiz’s shoulders.   
“Yes, yes, _yes_ ,” he repeated in between elatedly showering Noiz’s face in kisses.

After a moment, Aoba broke away, face screwing up as a thought recurred to him. Noiz’s brows furrowed together with concern.   
“Is everything alright?” he asked.   
“You stole my line,” Aoba replied.

He unfurled himself from Noiz, turned around, and grabbed the small box still sat in the middle of the sheets. Wordlessly he hoisted Noiz up to his feet, then kneeled down onto one knee, mirroring the exact stance Noiz was in minutes before.   
He opened the front to unveil a silver band almost identical to the one Noiz offered to him, except the gem in the middle a gentle turquoise instead of green.

He grinned proudly up to his soon-to-be fiancé, and asked:   
“So… _will you marry me, Noiz_?”

Instead of answering with words, Noiz smiled and scooped Aoba into his arms. He kissed Aoba passionately, a clear enough yes by the action alone.

It didn’t matter that their proposal wasn’t as picture-perfect as Aoba planned it to be— that it was in their bedroom, and that he was only wearing a pair of underwear— all that mattered was the promise they set to keep, to spend the rest of their lives together from hereon.


	22. Miscommunication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everything is perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for "don't you dare come near me!"

One look at Noiz and Aoba and it was easy to see their love for one another, it radiated off of them like warmth from the sun. It was obvious in the sidelong glances they stole while walking down the street, in the spark of life that glimmered in their eyes when looking at them, in the love that sang in their laughter.

There was a distinct air about them when around each other, full of happiness and tenderness unmatched from anything when they were alone. They were fully comfortable around each other in heart and soul.

And thanks to that, the months they had spent living together in Germany were wonderful, filled with happiness as they discovered more of the world together. Everything was perfect…

Nearly perfect.

They both had their issues they still had to overcome, and both of them coped with them in the ways they had grown accustomed to, even if they weren’t the healthiest of means.

When Aoba was upset, really upset, he turned away from the world by isolating himself; he’d slip his headphones on and drown out the rest of the world in the noise. Keeping the music blaring distracted him from the urge to cry welling up in his throat.   
And when Noiz felt angry, he resorted back to old habits. He pushed Aoba away when he tried to ask what was wrong, and he became too sensitive when it came to close contact and needed his space in order to breathe.   
Sometimes when they couldn’t meet eye-to-eye, or ended up bickering, they turned to those means to run away from the situation.

However, these fights were few and far between. Very rarely did disagreements escalate to a degree that couldn’t be quickly sorted out. They were both sympathetic and understood that it took time to fully open up to another person. But they were both stubborn, and sometimes their heads butted against one another.

This was one of those times.

Noiz couldn’t remember what they had been fighting to begin with— probably something about work, Aoba worried Noiz was overworking himself again. Didn’t Aoba understand he was not that weak, that he had learned how to deal with his father’s behavior at a young age, that he didn’t need pandering like a child?   
And from there, things continued to escalate for no reason than neither of them willing to back down. They started fighting in circles, finding no resolution in their strings of shouted words and desperate attempts to get the other to see that they were right.

Inwardly Noiz knew that he was overreacting– Aoba was simply worried about him, so why did he do that?

Why did he snap at Aoba?

Why did he shove Aoba away forcefully when he tried to touch his shoulder, shouting _Don’t you dare come near me!_ before tearing away, storming off into his bedroom?

Noiz was sat on the edge of his bed with his legs drawn close to his chest, sitting like a punished child. He drew his knees up closer to his chest and shuddered. He still couldn’t burn the image out of his eyes— the lost and confused hurt on Aoba’s face before Noiz stormed away and abandoned him. That sullen, heartbroken look of desperation lingered in the back of his thoughts like an afterimage he couldn’t wipe clean.

He didn’t want to ever put Aoba in that situation, to cause him pain or distress. His main goal was to make provide Aoba with as much happiness he could.   
But he had failed.  
Noiz clenched his teeth together until it hurt and hugged his legs closer together, letting his guilt wash over him in waves. He had made a huge mistake.

This whole miscommunication was his fault. All his fault.

* * *

 

“Don’t you dare come near me!”

The words cut through Aoba like a knife, grazing against his skin and leaving blood to seep from the wound. It pierced him deep, left him cold.   
There was a look on Noiz’s face that he hadn’t seen for years—scorn… no, more than that… _fear_ burning in the irises of his eyes.   
It worried him. More than that, it _scared_ him. He didn’t know what he had done wrong to get such a reaction out of Noiz, but it hurt him just the same.

He worried if maybe he had overstepped his boundaries, worried about Noiz too much even when he told him he had nothing to worry about. It’s not like he could help himself— the days Noiz came home still carrying the pressure and stress from work had been steadily increasing. It had worsened to the point that he only spoke when completely necessary, the rest of his time spent in front of Coil screens, finishing up whatever work that followed him out of the office.

It was only natural for Aoba to worry. He remembered what happened the last time this happened to Noiz; the first time, he had managed to keep his stress hidden well, even if Aoba knew better. But his father pushed him past the amount he could keep bottled in, and his old habits came surfacing back.   
It was only natural to want to reach out, to hold Noiz in a gesture to remind him that Aoba was there at his side, supporting him no matter what.

Noiz’s stress was bound to boil and seethe over sooner or later, but Aoba wanted to be there at his side when it did, rather than opposing him as they argued over trivial things. He wanted to walk over to Noiz’s room and try to comfort him, but he knew better than that— right now, all Noiz needed was his space. He’d wait patiently until he was ready, when he felt willing to let Aoba in and tell him what was troubling him.   
But… was Noiz really alright? Was space really what he needed right now?

Aoba couldn’t stop thinking about getting up and wandering towards Noiz’s bedroom, to make sure that he was doing okay.

He sighed loudly as he pulled his headphones off of his ears. Trying to drown his thoughts in his music wasn’t helping anything, only making the situation worse. His thoughts continued to linger on Noiz rather than away from him. Instead of running away from the problem, he needed to sort through his feelings.

He picked up Ren, nestled in his lap in sleep mode. He gently pressed on the Allmate’s forehead and he sprang to life.   
“Aoba.”

He took a moment or two to read over Aoba’s emotions, then spoke again.   
“Something is troubling you. What is it?”

“I’m… I’m fine,” Aoba said, mulling over his words as he spoke. “But I’m worried about Noiz.”   
“What has happened?”

“Well… I’m not really sure. Noiz came home looking upset and stressed, and I asked him what was wrong. He kept saying that he was fine, it was fine, but it wasn’t fine. I was just worried about him and then we…”   
Aoba cut himself off with a tired sigh, leaning his head back into a pillow.   
“I don’t know what to do… I know that he probably wants to be alone, but I want to make sure he’s okay. I’m stuck.”

Ren took a moment to process Aoba’s words spoke.   
“From gauging what Aoba has said about Noiz, it is best to give him some space for a while. Noiz will speak when he feels ready to. If Aoba approached him now, he may not want to talk. ”   
Aoba sighed relief; Ren always knew what to say to calm him down. “Yeah, you’re right. I should let him be.”

He hugged his Allmate tighter and pressed their foreheads together. “Thank you, Ren.”   
Ren wagged his tail from side to side. “It’s my pleasure.”

Aoba believed firmly that all would turn out okay in the end. No matter what happened, he’d always be there to support Noiz. And if it was a bumpy road he had to venture through to get over this obstacle, so be it. There was nothing that would stop him from wanting to be with Noiz or wanting to care for him.

He had come to Germany ready to face hardship head-on, a simple argument wasn’t anything he couldn’t deal with. And he knew the same was for Noiz.

Everything would be just fine.

* * *

 

A distant voice scorned Noiz, words burning in his ears just as the day they had been thrown at him. _You are a nuisance. You bring shame to this family. Nobody needs a problem child._

What good is somebody who makes situations worse, rather than finding solutions to solve the problem?

Noiz was acting just the same as when he was young. Nothing had changed; when faced with difficult situations, he’d rather run away and hide then deal with them head on. Closing himself away was the simplest solution—nobody would get hurt by him, and nobody could hurt him.   
In all honesty, Noiz had no problem dealing with stress or bad situations, but he didn’t want to get other people to get hurt when it came to his own problems. Especially Aoba.

What made the situation worse was that there wasn’t even any problem to begin with. Aoba came to him concerned about the amount of stress he had been under… and he decided to react viciously for no reason than the fact that he could.  
It was his fault. All his fault.

The hurt look on Aoba’s face resurfaced in his head again and Noiz winced, his self-loathing replaced by guilt.   
His fault. All his fault…

Just then, Noiz felt something moving at his side. Just as he lifted his head to see what it was, a cube hovered mid-air close to his nose.   
“P!”   
Noiz sighed softly as he extended his hand outwards, Midori falling in place into his palm.

“Noiz is sad! Noiz is sad!” the cube exclaimed, bouncing up and down with worry in his palm.   
“I’m fine…” he asserted back, but the cube cut him off.   
“Noiz’s emotional state says otherwise!”

Noiz sighed again. He wasn’t used to using his cubes as a means to talk to, but he picked up the habit from Aoba and before he realized it himself, he started acting more affectionate to his Allmate, rather than seeing it just as a tool.   
“I… snapped at Aoba.”

The cube whimpered sympathetically, then jumped in his palm joyously.   
“So Noiz should talk to Aoba! Noiz is always happier when he talks to Aoba!”   
“But I upset him, what if he doesn’t want to talk to me…” he muttered, half-expecting his Allmate not to respond to him. But inwardly, he knew better, and half-expected his Allmate’s response before it even spoke.

“Yesterday Aoba told us he was worried about Noiz, so we think Aoba will want to talk with Noiz! Aoba is not upset! Aoba is worried!”   
“…Really?”   
“Yes! That’s why Noiz should talk to Aoba!”

… Though he didn’t agree with his Allmate entirely, Noiz did believe that if he could find a way to easily fix the situation he had caused, it was worth taking the risk.

He gathered himself with a deep breath, then straightened himself out. His Allmate chirped happily and bounced up from his palm to sit on Noiz’s shoulder.   
“Good luck, Noiz!”

The cube shut itself into sleep mode, and Noiz carefully set it down next to his bedside.   
“… Thank you,” he whispered softly, pouring all of his gratitude into his words.

With his mind made up, Noiz walked slowly out of his bedroom, carrying himself like a punished dog with their tail between their legs. From Aoba’s bedroom, he heard the sound of a melody, music muted by his door.

He knocked once, twice, three times to catch Aoba’s attention.

* * *

 

After speaking to Ren, Aoba slipped back on his headphones to become lost in his music. The beats calmed down his nerves and put his aching mind to rest.   
But it wasn’t long after that he heard a soft tapping against his door, just barely noticeable as his Coil switched between songs.

Then a voice— Noiz’s voice.   
“…Can I come in?”   
“Y-Yeah,” Aoba called back, unable to hide the confusion in his voice.

Noiz… wanted to talk to him? So suddenly? He had been expecting Noiz to need at least a couple hours on his own, if not the rest of the night.   
Perhaps he trusted Aoba enough that he didn’t need that much time alone. The thought warmed Aoba’s heart.

As he slipped off his headphones, Aoba noticed how clammy his palms had become, and how fast his heart had begun to beat, and how it felt like his breath was caught in the back of his throat, and how he had started to feel nervous but _why_ , and…   
His racing thoughts were silenced when Noiz stepped in, expression gentle and lined with sorrow. Their eyes locked and lingered for moments before Aoba looked away, feeling shy.

Noiz sighed softly and stepped closer, sitting on the edge of Aoba’s bed.   
“So…” he began, awkwardly staring at his clenched palms, carefully choosing his words. Noiz’s movements were like that of a scorned child— apologizing like this was still fresh and unusual for him, Aoba realized.

“For what happened earlier…” Noiz began again, glancing forlornly towards Aoba before turning away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”   
Aoba shook his head softly. “There’s no need to apologize. You’ve just been so stressed out lately, I’ve been worried. You don’t tell me anything that’s bothering you.”

Aoba shifted in bed, sitting closer towards Noiz. He gently reached out again, tentatively touching his hand to Noiz’s shoulder. Instead of pulling away, Noiz let him touch him—inwardly giving Aoba relief.   
“You’re not alone anymore, I won’t let you be. If there’s ever anything that’s stressing you out, or if you need to talk, you can always tell me. You don’t have to close me off. You trust me, don’t you?”  
“Of course I do. It’s not that.” After a couple of seconds lost in thought, Noiz spoke again.

“…It’s difficult to get used to, mostly. I’m used to dealing with things on my own.”   
“I know. It’ll take some time. But I’ll always be here if you ever need to talk about anything. Promise. Just don’t shut me out.”   
“Yeah.”

Noiz nodded, then scooted a little closer, close enough that their sides touched. He finally turned his gaze upwards, finding Aoba’s.   
“So… do you forgive me?”

Aoba smiled. “Of course.”

Then, before he could think, Aoba found himself lunging forward, enveloping Noiz inside a tight hug.

* * *

 

Warm. That was the first thought that flitted through Noiz’s head when he wrapped his arms around Aoba. He was so warm, always so warm.   
But all of that warmth wasn’t just from body heat alone; Aoba’s touch brought him a greater comfort than just heat, his touch brought him security and a reminder of what was most important to him. His warmth was all-encompassing, in Aoba’s love and his words… and his touch.

That was the warmth that emanating from the one he clung onto— Aoba’s warmth was home.

All of these feelings bubbled up, along with the stress and other negative thoughts he had kept bottled in. They overflowed until he felt like bursting, and before he realized his eyes stung and something blisteringly hot streamed down his face.

And the tears kept coming. He clutched onto Aoba’s shirt as a sob built up in the back of his throat, helplessly giving into the urge to cry.   
He cried until his lungs hurt, until his palms hurt from clutching onto Aoba so tightly. He didn’t like to cry; to Noiz, it was a sign of weakness and a waste of energy. He had shed too many tears when he was alone, crying and begging to be let out, only for his sobs to go unnoticed. But now he couldn’t stop the purging of emotions, the catharsis from release.

All the while, Aoba held him close, let Noiz cling to him as he cried. He brushed Noiz’s hair with the tips of his fingers softly, soothingly.   
After Noiz didn’t have any strength left to cry, he felt lips brush against his forehead, kissing him softly. He lifted his head from Aoba’s tear-stained shirt up to his face; he was leaning in close, a gentle and warm smile on his face. He cupped a hand to Noiz’s face and gently moved his face in closer to kiss underneath his eyes. The touch was so feather light, so gentle, Noiz felt goosebumps rising on his skin.

“I love you,” Aoba whispered, brushing Noiz’s hair away from his face to kiss him there again. He pulled Noiz in closer so he was practically sitting in his lap.

Truthfully, everything wasn’t perfect. They were bound to have their imperfections— rough patches, miscommunications, and times where they stubbornly pitted themselves against each other.   
However, those imperfections weren’t a flaw. Perfection is almost impossible, a faulty goal that ultimately lead to disappointment.

But in that moment, with all of its quiet embraces and physical expressions of affection, with Noiz dipping in and out of a tranquil half-sleep, with Aoba comfortingly running his hands through Noiz’s hair—

In that moment, everything was perfect.


	23. Slice of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Aoba cook together-- and things escalate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for "kiss me, you idiot." 100% inspired by me being an idiot and cutting my own hand, btw.

The spice rack spun round and round, various bottles clanking together when it stopped abruptly. Aoba thumbed his fingers over the various bottles lined in a row, lips downturned in a determined scowl.

No matter how many times he rummaged through the spices, he couldn’t find what he was looking for anywhere.  
With a frustrated sigh he turned around, setting his hands on his hips.   
“Noiz, have you seen the curry powder?” he asked. “I can’t find it anywhere.”

His boyfriend glanced up from a cutting board, where he had been set to the task of chopping up vegetables. He glanced around the area around him, humming as he searched.

“Hmm… Ah, this?” he grabbed a small bottle set right next to the stove and shook it. Gradually the corners of his lips curled in a smirk. “You set it down here a couple minutes ago.”   
Right. Now he remembered putting that down there… but Noiz didn’t need to know that.

“Did not,” Aoba huffed. He grabbed the bottle away from Noiz, then glared. “You stole it.”   
Noiz chuckled, seeing through Aoba’s game. “Why would I steal it?”   
“To mess with me. To make me come over here s-so you could get a kiss or something.”   
“Oh? You know me too well.”

Noiz smirked and did just that, leaning over to press a quick kiss to the corner of Aoba’s mouth, then returned back to his task.

Aoba was certain that Noiz wanted to spend their Saturday night at some highbrow restaurant, fit with romantic candlelight and live piano when he said he wanted to discuss what they were going to have. Instead he threw Aoba completely off guard— _can we make curry tonight? I want to know how you make it._ At that, Aoba felt his heart leap out of his chest; he was glad that Noiz was eager to learn.

Early on, Aoba made an effort in cooking together with Noiz whenever they could, usually on their free weekends. He had wanted to show Noiz’s palate more food than just the usual pizza and pasta he had been eating for years on his own.   
Initially, he was not an impressive cook by any means, but by practicing more and more, he had improved greatly. In fact, he even enjoyed cooking the more he learned the intricacies behind making meals. Whenever they went back to Midorijima, he spent afternoons with Granny, watching with an attentive eye as she made meals.   
He was getting better, and thanks to practicing on a near-daily basis, he had learned how to become a rather impressive cook.

With just a little effort, and a quick search online with his Coil, he could make anything that sounded appealing. Regardless, his favorite thing to cook was curry. Not only because most recipes were fairly simple, but because of the aroma that filled the kitchen as it simmered was tantalizing.   
Of course, Tae made the best curry he had ever had, and her recipe was a staple at Noiz and Aoba’s household. Whenever he started to long for Midorijima, he’d end up making it to cure the ache of homesickness.

It made the kitchen smell like his grandmother’s house— it had the smell of evenings after getting off late from Heibon, legs exhausted from making too many deliveries, dinner greeting Aoba as soon he stepped inside.  
He wanted to recreate those memories with Noiz, as well. To be there for him after work with dinner as a pat on the back for a job well done.

But they could also make brand new memories as well, using their time together to cook with one another. Aoba didn’t mind at all.

He folded his arms over his chest as he glanced over Noiz’s work. He clicked his tongue against his teeth.   
“The carrots supposed to be pieces, not slices.”   
Noiz glanced back down at what he had cut already, frown deepening. “Ah, really?”   
“Mhm. Here, let me show you.”

He nudged Noiz out of the way with his hips, chuckling at the sullen look on his boyfriend’s face.   
“Ah, don’t give me that face. You wanted to learn, right?”

He grabbed the knife and rearranged the slices Noiz had cut and cut them into half-circles.   
“See? Like this. The way you did isn’t wrong, but they won’t be as soft, they’ll still be way too crunchy.”   
As he continued to cut the rest of the pieces, he glanced over to Noiz to see if he was paying attention. His eyes never left Aoba, nor the knife in his hands.   
So he really _did_ want to learn how he made it afterall. Warmth filled his chest with the thought, and he couldn’t resist a smile—

Suddenly, a sharp stinging resonated from the tip of his finger. He glanced down and saw a thin line of red along the skin, blood slowly seeping from the wound.   
“Ow!” he cried out, instinctively pulling his hand away. His released his grip on the knife and it fell to the cutting board with a sharp clang. “Ah, dammit…!”  
Immediately he felt Noiz at his side, eyes wide with concern. “Are you alright?”

He sighed and brought his hand up for Noiz to see where he had cut himself. “I’m fine. I wasn’t paying enough attention and cut myself on accident.”   
Noiz stared down the wound, eyebrows furrowing together in thought. “Does it hurt?”   
“A little, but—”

Before he could react, Aoba’s hand was grabbed and brought close to Noiz’s face. His boyfriend’s eyes narrowed as he further inspected the narrow cut, then closed as he brought the injured finger to his mouth and licked it clean.   
Aoba gasped in surprise and tried to pull away, but Noiz kept him locked in place.

“N-Noiz,” he stammered. “W-What are you doing?”   
“I’m healing you,” Noiz stated with a blank expression. “When you licked the cut inside my mouth, you healed it. So I’ll do the same back.”   
“B-But this is totally different…!”   
“Hmmm… not really.”

Aoba had plenty of counterarguments to prove Noiz wrong— that should just get a band aid, instead, or wrap it with a cloth until it stopped bleeding, or at least do anything other than lick it for god’s sake… but he couldn’t convey his thoughts in anything more than a frustrated groan. Instead, he went silent as Noiz continued to lick the wound clean.   
Gradually he began to notice that… it felt nice. Really nice. Faint sparks of electricity jolted up his spine when Noiz licked over the pad of his thumb. And the visual of his boyfriend’s tongue around his fingers didn’t help much, either…   
An involuntary moan spilled from his lips, weak, but clearly a sign he was enjoying himself. Noiz stopped immediately, shooting a look up towards his face, and embarrassment overtook the faint pleasure.

Noiz was silent save for a low chuckle deep in the back of his throat. He brought his mouth back to Aoba’s finger—this time, instead of merely lapping at the cut, bringing the entirety of the tip inside his mouth. Experimentally he sucked on it once, sending a stronger spark of pleasure down towards Aoba’s hips.

As good as it felt, Aoba couldn’t overcome the embarrassment or the absurdity of the situation. Noiz was known for being unpredictable, but what made him think to do _this_ …

“Noiz… really… what are you doing…” Aoba managed to spit out. He tried to pull his hand away again but Noiz sucked on his finger harder, before pulling off with a lewd pop.   
“Making sure it’s clean,” Noiz crooned.

Aoba cocked his head, shooting him a cursory look. “I-Is that really _all_ you’re doing?”   
Noiz kissed the tip of his finger, then grinned. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. See look, it stopped bleeding.”  
He wasn’t wrong, at least. The bleeding had stopped, and the sting had all but vanished.   
With a sigh of defeat, Aoba grabbed Noiz’s arm with his free hand and pulled him in closer, returning the grin.   
“Kiss me, you idiot.”

Their lips met in a feather-light kiss, gradually growing deeper as they moved in closer and kissed with more fervor. Aoba darted his tongue outwards, gently prying Noiz’s mouth open when he swiped along his lower lip. His mouth tasted like blood, his blood, but he brushed those thoughts aside for now.

Deciding to take the initiative (as there was no way they could get back to cooking dinner in this condition), Aoba trailed his hand down Noiz’s stomach, thumbing at his navel piercing, then cupped a hand around the front of Noiz’s pants. He squeezed lightly as he sucked on Noiz’s tongue. He bristled with delight with the muffled moan that filled his mouth.   
Noiz broke out of their kiss, face flushed and panting; to retaliate, he dipped in low and ran his tongue along Aoba’s neck.

“Dinner…” Noiz suddenly murmured against his skin, leaving Aoba hanging as he pulled away. His eyes flitted around the kitchen, at all the contents laid out and ready for cooking. Aoba followed his eye then turned back, shrugging.   
“It’ll be fine, it can wait for ten… er, t-thirty minutes.” Heat rose up into his cheeks as he darted his eyes away. “If that’s okay with you…”  
Noiz simply laughed, low and sensual, in his ear. “As you wish.”

With a kiss, he hoisted Aoba into his arms and carried him out of the kitchen.   
Yes, he enjoyed cooking with Noiz, but he didn’t mind sharing their Saturday evening together in _other_ ways, either.


	24. Celebrations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo gives Noiz and Aoba a nice, ritzy engagement gift what happens next will warm your heart

“Sh-Should we even be drinking this?”

Aoba turned around the champagne bottle in his hands. The soft green glass reflected in the light and the liquid inside shimmered. He ran his thumb over the label of the champagne, all in a language he couldn’t read. But he could tell it was expensive. So expensive that even putting his hands on it felt like he was ruining its value.

Almost ten years old, too. Aoba wasn’t too keen on proper champagne etiquette, but he’d heard that the older a champagne was, the better it tasted. And the more expensive it became, too, not to forget. Somewhere in the several thousand’s region, he imagined.  
And Theo had just given it to Noiz right as he left work. Just like that.   
Simply holding the bottle felt like he was trespassing, an unwanted guest in the house of the wealthiest.

He scrutinized the label, trying to discern any words that looked familiar— French was close to German linguistically, wasn’t it? (No, as he quickly discovered, not in the slightest.)  
With a small sigh, he gently set the bottle back down inside the sleek black bucket filled with ice Noiz carried it home in, sat right beside a towel and two champagne glasses.

“Why shouldn’t we drink it?” Noiz asked while taking a seat next to Aoba, brows furrowing together in confusion.   
“I mean…” Aoba rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure, either… but he couldn’t get how expensive it must be out of his head. Something like that wouldn’t be easily given away. “What if Theo gave this to you on accident?”   
“Why would he have given it to me on accident? He said that this was an engagement gift, that after I told him this morning he went out and purchased it. That seems pretty intentional, does it not?”

“Ah…” Aoba felt a light blush form his cheek at the mention; so casually, too. That they were going to be married. “Y-You didn’t tell me it was an engagement gift.”   
Aoba paused, glancing at the unopened champagne bottle once more. He still felt hesitant to open something so expensive, even moreso now that he knew it was gifted to them… but he knew Theo, and just how much he cared about his older brother. He wouldn’t bat an eye to do something lavish for them.

Aoba brushed off his concerns, saving them for another time. For now, he should just enjoy what Theo graciously offered. “Then, I guess… it should be fine.”   
Aoba heard Noiz laugh underneath his breath, then felt him loom in close. He wrapped a hand around Aoba’s shoulders, landing a quick peck on his cheek. “You know, when you pout while in thought… it’s cute.”

Pretending to be mad, Aoba pushed Noiz away with his shoulder and huffed. “Be quiet, and open the bottle.”   
Noiz merely smiled in response, then reached out to the champagne, pulling it out of the bucket. Being careful not to spill it all over the two of them, or the couch, he cautiously twisted it open, a soft sigh as the cork released, followed by a vapor escaping from the lid. He poured the fizzling drink into one of the glasses, then offered it out to Aoba.   
“Here.”

Aoba took it graciously, bringing the glass close to his face to watch the bubbles slowly dancing up to the surface. He brought it to his lips and took a small sip.

Sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. It tasted nice and fruity and hardly like champagne at all, but something Aoba could drink continually and not get bored. And the carbonation danced on his tongue, too, exciting his tastebuds.   
As soon as he swallowed, he brought the flute back to his lips for another drink—stopped short by a small snort at his side.   
“What?” he scowled. “Don’t laugh at me. It’s good.”

“You should be careful. Don’t you know how you get with champagne?” Noiz replied, a suggestive smirk on his face. “I remember last time, you almost had an entire bottle and you couldn’t even make it through the front door…”  
Aoba would have spat out his drink if it didn’t taste as expensive as it looked. Instead he shot Noiz daggers as he hastily swallowed down the champagne.

“Y-You… perverted brat!” he stammered, feeling his face beginning to flush red. “I-Is that why you want to drink it tonight?”  
“Hmm… not entirely. I also wanted to celebrate with you.” Noiz paused, his playful smirk waning slightly. “We haven’t had a lot of time to celebrate it yet, so— _Congratulations_.”

He held out his glass in a celebratory manner, and Aoba brought his glass out to meet it.   
“Congratulations,” he repeated, smiling as their glasses clinked together harmoniously. He brought his glass back to his lips and took a larger drink, less savoring it slowly than quickly relishing in it.

He turned to Noiz and watched as he took a drink of it—watched his lips as they slightly parted, watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, watched as his face lit up in pleasant surprise. Even after years together, Aoba was still mesmerized in the tiny expressions made, his reactions to the world around him. The Noiz he knew now was hardly anything like the Noiz he had first met, he’d had an abundance of time to get accustomed to being able to feel the world around him, and yet he still found new things to discover. All kinds of foods, all kinds of places… everything.   
And Aoba was proud to be the one there at his side, to be the one to watch his reactions and discover things alongside him.

There were moments when he glanced down at the ring on his hand and his heart started to stammer. Not only because he was getting _married_ , but because of _whom_ he was getting married to. In just a few months, after they had finished planning out their wedding, he would be Noiz’s husband. Noiz would be his husband. They would remain each other’s, eternally.

Truthfully, marriage had never on the forefront of Aoba’s mind— due to them being legally unable to, but also because there were other, more pressing matters to worry about. He loved Noiz and didn’t need a ring to validate that; in a way, they were already practically married.  
But now Aoba was elated at the thought of marriage— it was a way to tell the rest of the world what they already knew themselves: they loved each other with all their hearts, and they would remain that way until they drew their last breaths.

Momentarily overwhelmed, Aoba drew in a large breath and turned his head away from his fiancé, not wanting him to see the flustered look on his face. He clutched onto his champagne flute like a vice as weak words spilled from his lips:   
“It’s… it’s good, isn’t it?”   
“Yeah.”

Noiz stared into his glass for a moment, then set down his glass without a word, turning to Aoba with a perplexed glimmer in his eye. Confused, Aoba stared back, lightly cocking his head.

“What is it?” Aoba asked, voice tight with concern. “Do you not like it?”   
Noiz shook his head. “No, it’s not that… it’s just—”

He sighed, then moved in closer on the couch, close enough that their thighs pressed against each other. With a tired sigh he rested his chin on Aoba’s shoulder. Aoba could tell he craved physical affection right now—simply wanting to touch Aoba more than anything. Touched, he used his free hand and ran his fingers through soft tufts of hair.   
As an afterthought, Aoba set down his glass as well, using both hands to wrap Noiz inside a hug. Noiz moved about to do the same.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, quietly enjoying each other’s warmth and love, Noiz sighed. He lifted his head from Aoba’s chin, meeting him eye to eye. A strange look passed over his face, like he was battling over something internally. He was acting strange—but why?

“Are you okay?” Aoba asked, concerned.   
Noiz flicked his gaze away, sighing once more. “I’m happy that I am able to marry you,” Noiz murmured. “But… has it not felt that way? I’ve been so busy, we’ve hardly celebrated.”

Aoba sighed empathetically. He hated seeing the look of disappointment on Noiz’s face, especially when he hadn’t done anything wrong.   
He took Noiz’s face in his hands and gently kissed him on the forehead. “Hey, it’s okay. You’ve been working so hard. I know that you’re happy, because of how hard you’re working to make it perfect. And we’ve celebrated more than enough already.”

Aoba kissed him on the forehead again, then the nose, then his lips. He sat up just a little to crane over and grab their two flutes of champagne.   
“A toast,” he said, while handing Noiz’s his glass. “To the two of us.”   
Noiz stared, mildly dumbfounded before breaking into a gentle smile. “Yeah.”

Glass clinked against each other, then they shared their second toast for the night. Aoba nearly drank half of his glass in one go, and he could already feel the pleasant fuzzy warmth spreading through his stomach up to his head. It was a known fact how much of a lightweight Aoba was, but most should be able to handle more than one glass of champagne. He wanted to test his limits.

With a mischievous smirk, Aoba finished the rest of his glass, holding out the empty flute out for Noiz to refill.   
He eyed him warily, brows arched with surprise. “Are you sure, Aoba? You remember last time, don’t you?”   
“Of course,” Aoba replied in singsong, giving Noiz a knowing look. Alcohol already overtaken his senses and made him more confident, less afraid to act coy. “But we’re _celebrating_ tonight, aren’t we? Let’s do it properly.”

That sly look on Noiz’s face reemerged, eyes ablaze with excitement. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”   
He finished off the last of his drink then poured them both another glass. Immediately Aoba brought his glass up to his mouth to drink, but he caught his teeth against the glass and laughed.   
“I may already be tipsy,” he giggled. “This stuff is strong.”   
“Not really,” Noiz said, taking a drink of his champagne. He grinned playfully, leaning forward to nip at Aoba’s earlobe. “You’re just a total lightweight.”

Aoba jumped at the warmth of Noiz’s lips, and shot him another glare. To retaliate against his words, he drank the entirety of the flute in one go. The burn of the alcohol was hardly present in the sweetness of the champagne, he could get wasted off of this daily.   
“See!” he said as he parted his lips from the class, setting down his glass triumphantly. “I feel totally fine!”

… Ten minutes later, once the alcohol traveled its way up to his head, he felt the complete opposite of fine.   
There was no nausea, nor dizziness, but he felt uncomfortably hot in his clothes, and the smell of Noiz’s cologne was more alluring than usual. He was in control of himself as he crawled into Noiz’s lap, grinding his ass against Noiz’s crotch intentionally—and yet, he felt like he was watching himself from a distance. And dying from embarrassment.

“I told you,” Noiz panted, breaking his lips apart from Aoba’s neck, sweeping a look up to his face. His cheeks were flushed pink from alcohol, too; Noiz wasn’t any more of a lightweight than Aoba was. “Champagne makes you so horny. You can’t even keep your hands off me.”   
Aoba chuckled and swept Noiz’s chin upwards, so their noses brushed against one another. “Perverted brats like you,” he slurred. “Need to keep quiet.”

He crushed their lips together in warm, wet fervor, not hesitating before intertwining his tongue with Noiz’s, sucking hard enough to bruise. Noiz tasted just as sweet as the champagne, but his natural taste accentuated it tenfold. The tiny little moans that intertwined with their kiss as Aoba ground down on him send a volt of joy to his chest, and Aoba felt like floating in the combination of tipsiness and budding pleasure.

Once Aoba’s lungs screamed for air, he broke apart. Noiz’s lips glistened with saliva, and his ragged pants were heady with desire. In the strangest sense, Noiz looked so handsome in that moment, Aoba couldn’t help but grin. He pulled him for another kiss, one gentler, relaying his love and adoration for.

In the back of his head, Aoba distantly thought to himself— there was no better way to celebrate than being intertwined with the one he loved most, cherished most.   
He couldn’t have asked for a better husband-to-be than Noiz.


	25. Restlessness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz helps Aoba and his nagging backache.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for Gargalesthesia - The sensation caused by tickling.

It had been a restless night—in less enjoyable ways than Noiz would have preferred otherwise.

Aoba kept tossing and turning in his sleep, staying still in one position for a few minutes before sighing, turning about to another position, then moving about to try another one. He did this over and over, never once finding a reprieve from this agonizing dance. At times, he even groaned in pain, muttering something indiscernible to himself under his breath.

This wasn’t normal. Noiz knew Aoba— he fell asleep fast and stayed asleep for long periods of time. If he moved about, it was while he was deep in sleep where he unaware of his moving, incoherent mumbling, or how much of the sheets he stole from Noiz.  
But now, his movements seemed subdued, like he didn’t want to make too much of a commotion, didn’t want to rustle the sheets too much to wake up Noiz.

He couldn’t just sit idly, if by chance something was really bothering Aoba. At first he was mindedly keeping a curious eye on his boyfriend. But this had spanned on for too long; now, he needed to know what was bothering Aoba.   
Not making any attempt to disguise his moments, Noiz say up with a sigh, stretching his arms high above his head. The moment he sensed Noiz was still awake, Aoba went ramrod straight, pretending to be asleep while awkwardly and uncomfortably twisted on his side.   
Noiz would have laughed, if his concerns for Aoba’s wellbeing didn’t override everything else.

He switched on the light at his bedside and turned to look at Aoba. Despite his failing attempts to appear asleep, the look on his face was just as exhausted as Noiz would have guessed.

Noiz sighed and reached over, gently turning Aoba onto his back. Aoba exhaled and gave up his act, eyes fluttering open, catching Noiz’s gaze.

“Are you okay?” Noiz asked, voice gentle, concerned.  
Aoba opened his mouth to speak, paused momentarily, sighed. “I’m alright. It’s… it’s nothing, really.”   
“It’s not nothing.” Noiz leaned in closer, affectionately tucking a lost strand of hair behind Aoba’s ear. “Tell me.”  
“Don’t laugh at me, but… my back hurts,” Aoba muttered under his breath. He jutted his lips into a pout and huffed. “A-and it’s your fault! You went so hard yesterday, I’ve been aching all day.” He rubbed his shoulder, wincing. “It was manageable enough while I was busy, but lying down… makes it worse.”

After admitting the truth, Aoba turned his head away, ashamed of himself. The night before, Noiz remembered vividly, he had Aoba underneath him, practically folded in half for hours. He had woken up complaining about how sore he was, but Noiz didn’t think it had been _that_ bad.   
But maybe it was that bad.  
He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and sighed, feeling guilty.

“Sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”   
“Like what?” Aoba turned back around towards Noiz, brows drawn together.   
“Hmm…” Noiz paused while contemplating. “A bath? Massage?”

Aoba slowly nodded. “Ah, a massage sounds nice…”   
Noiz returned the nod with a tiny smile. After a fluttering kiss on the lips, pulled himself out of bed. “Then it’s settled.”

He left for their bathroom, rummaging around in the dim light wafting from the bedroom to find a bottle of lotion. In the medicine cabinet, where Aoba usually put it. While he was at it, he thought, he could use his Coil to quickly glance at a How-To guide for proper massage techniques. He found one off the internet, idly skimmed it and memorized essential points. Giving massages were an uncharted territory for the both of them, but if he could relieve just a bit of Aoba’s pain, it’d be worth the effort.

When he returned back to the bedroom, Aoba was sitting in the center of the bed with his legs crossed, the t-shirt he was wearing folded neatly on the side of the bed. Noiz couldn’t resist passing a long look over Aoba’s exposed body, or the natural smirk that flitted on the corners of his mouth.

“ _Nope_ ,” Aoba said with the tone of a strict parent, hands preoccupied with tying his hair into a loose bun. “That is what caused this in the first place.”   
Noiz chuckled. “But I can imagine, can’t I?”

That earned an eye rolling from Aoba, and him muttering _perverted brat_ under his breath. As if to entice Noiz further, he rolled onto his back, giving him a spectacular view of his bare legs and his exposed back. The curve of his ass, too, but that was unfortunately covered up by his boxers. At least he could imagine that, too.

Aoba rubbed at his lower back, hissing with pain. “Ow ow ow…”  
“It hurts the most there?” Noiz asked as he knelt onto the bed, crawling closer to the middle where Aoba was. He pressed his hand to where Aoba had been rubbing; his boyfriend nodded.   
“Mhm… and my shoulders. Wait.”

Aoba lifted his head from the pillows, face taut with concern. “Do you know how to give a massage?”   
“You rub where hurts and it’ll start feeling better, right?”   
“I… guess. I’ve never really done this, either.”   
Noiz leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “I’ll be careful.”

He uncapped the lid to the lotion and poured generous amount into his hands, slicking up both hangs situating himself atop Aoba. He straddled his legs over Aoba’s thighs, practically using his ass as a seat. He heard Aoba let out an embarrassing groan and hug his pillow even tighter.   
He noticed as he settled into place that a blush had begun to form over Aoba’s shoulder blades, a soft pink offset against the rest of his skin. _Cute._

Noiz leaned in, pressing a kiss in between Aoba’s shoulder blades. He reacted with a jerk and a choked sound of surprise, his skin glowed even redder.   
“Hey, pervert,” Aoba warned, leaning up on his elbows to shoot Noiz a glare. “If you do that again, and I’ll push you off.”   
“Couldn’t be helped,” Noiz said with a laugh. “You look very cute like this.”   
“Y-You…”

Aoba let out an exasperated groan before giving in, burying his face into the pillow to let Noiz work. Sitting up a little, he knelt over Aoba to bring his hands to the small of Aoba’s back.

He moved carefully at first, initially slicking the lotion over his skin in small circles. Underneath him, Aoba let out a little groan. It must have felt good.   
Noiz put more pressure into his movements, using the flat of his palms to knead where his muscles felt the most taught.  
Then he worked his way up Aoba’s spine, rubbing the notches of his spine gently with his thumbs pressed together. He moved his hands up to his upper back, splaying the entirety of his hands over his shoulder blades as he rubbed, massaged, kneaded.

“How does that feel?” Noiz asked, adding extra weight into his hands while rubbing Aoba’s shoulders. “Does it hurt?”   
“Ah… not at all,” he replied, voice dreamy. “Feels really nice…”   
He could barely keep his eyes open for more than a couple seconds, glancing at Noiz as he worked then drifting off. Finding him even more adorable than before, Noiz bent down and kissed the nape of his neck—instead of gasping or pulling away, Aoba smiled.

It was a game of trial and error, with Aoba guiding him to the areas that hurt the most. If he tensed up or his face scrunched up with pain, Noiz stopped, working on someplace else in the meantime.   
He’d set himself into a rhythm, and by that time Aoba was spilling out an array of light moans and little sighs. He didn’t realize the minor notes of pleasure he made—or didn’t seem to care. A couple times when Noiz massaged his most sensitive regions, he let out a moan of near-ecstasy. Noiz could get used to this, enticing such sounds out of Aoba with his hands alone— he made a mental note to incorporate more massages into foreplay more often.

Sometime in the midst being massaged, Aoba’s eyes fluttered closed and remained closed. His moans and sighs were replaced by gentle snoring, the telltale signs he had drifted off. Inwardly, Noiz felt proud of himself for getting Aoba from a place of agonizing in pain, to falling asleep without a care in the world.  
He rolled off of Aoba, curled up at his side, and then pulled the sheets tight over the two of them.

While taking care of Aoba, Noiz had completely forgotten about his own exhaustion. Heaviness dragged down his entire body. And yet, he couldn’t fall asleep just yet; he wanted to watch Aoba instead, taking in the contented and peaceful look on his face. Slowly, he continued to run his hand down Aoba’s back, savoring in his warmth, feeling the soft drum of his chest, and as his lungs filled with air. Everything about Aoba was beautiful.

Noiz remained like that until exhaustion got the better of him, forcing his eyelids shut. He shut off the light on his bedside, then quickly followed Aoba into sleep.

* * *

 

He woke up gradually, ignoring the sunlight coming in through their drawn curtains and the happy chirping of his alarm clock. It was a Sunday, and Sundays meant he could sleep in late—maybe even spend the day in bed cuddled up next to Aoba. That sounded perfect.

Noiz rolled over, reaching out to wrap Aoba in his arms and pull him close. But he wasn’t there. _Strange._   
On the weekends, Aoba usually slept in later than he did. And it wouldn’t make sense for him to be up making breakfast just yet—it had become an informal tradition for them to make breakfast together on Sundays.

Curious, he lifted his head from the pillows and looked around the bed, trying to find anything that could have indicated there he may be… to go to the bathroom, maybe. To find Ren and bring his Allmate back to bed with him. Yet, there was nothing.  
Then, he heard a soft laugh coming from above on his side of the bed. Noiz turned, finding Aoba leaning over him, wearing a wide grin that hid something darker underneath its warm exterior.

“Good morning, sleepyhead~” Aoba said, voice loving and sickly sweet. He knelt onto the bed and dipped down, kissing Noiz lightly before breaking apart. “Did you sleep well?”   
Noiz nodded, sitting up while running his hands through his hair. “Does your back hurt at all?”   
“Not a bit. Thank yo—ah, but.”

There was that look again—playful and laden with hidden meaning Noiz couldn’t quite figure out. Aoba pushed Noiz back down as he settled further onto the bed. Slowly crawling over, he took Noiz’s arms in his hands and held them in place as he climbed atop him, sitting in his lap. Loose strands of hair falling out of his bun tickled Noiz’s cheeks as he leaned in closer, his grin growing wider. This was nice—Noiz liked when Aoba took the initiative, but still he couldn’t stop thinking about the glint in his eye...

“What are you doing?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow with a suggestive smirk.   
Aoba laughed, playfully nipping the tip of Noiz’s nose. “I’m getting revenge.”   
Noiz blinked, brows drawing together in confusion. “Ha?”  
“Revenge for hurting my back in the first place!”

Before Noiz could even react, Aoba lashed out, attacking every region of Noiz’s bare skin with his hands. He let out a stammering sound of surprise, hands pawing for Aoba’s wrists to get him to stop.   
“Ha… hahaha… stop it!” Noiz said, finally catching hold of one of Aoba’s hands. He moved suddenly, catching Aoba’s ribs and tickling him in his most sensitive spot.   
“N-Never!” Aoba laughed and pushed his hand away, sticking one hand his hands inside Noiz’s T-shirt, tickling him along his hipbones without mercy. Noiz laughed even harder, feeling the weight in his lungs from the fervor.

In a temporary lapse of weakness, Noiz managed to grab Aoba and turn him over, so he was the one on top, and Aoba was helpless to the power of his hands. He tickled Aoba all over while showering his cheeks and necks in kisses in between fits of laughter. They played and laughed until they were breathless and their energy was long-gone, left clasped close to each other, wrangling for breath.

“I won,” Noiz grinned, rewarding himself with a long kiss on the lips. “And you’re my prize.”  
Aoba playfully flicked Noiz on the forehead. “Only because I let you. Be happy I let you off this time.”   
“Hmm, what will happen next time?”   
He paused, smile growing into a smirk. “You’ll just have to find out, hm?”

Aoba chuckled and pulled him in for a deeper kiss, slow and loving and warm.   
There was no place Noiz would rather be than here, curled up with Aoba, sharing tender kisses and loving embraces in the calm of a Sunday morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl this is probably one of my favorite fics I've ever wrote just yea... I love noiao massages


	26. Prost!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Aoba warm up from the cold

“ _Prost_!”

Noiz and Aoba cheered in unison, bringing their steaming hot drinks to their lips. The warmth of the drink—wine heated with warm spices, citrus, and _something_ —was a welcome treat for shivering hands and cold-bitten cheeks.

A quaint dinner out had started a festive evening wandering around through the city, admiring the array of holiday decorations and the beautiful, twinkling Christmas lights. Aoba couldn’t have asked for a better way to usher in the holiday season—freshly fallen snow, children laughing and playing on the sidewalks, marketplaces ablaze with life… and the best part: he got to enjoy all while at his boyfriend’s side.

He nearly winced as he brought his drink up to his lips. It was too warm, threatening to burn his tongue. Noiz must have done the same, because he heard him hiss out a faint note of pain.

“Don’t burn yourself,” he warned, a moment too late. “Blow on it.”   
Noiz narrowed his eyes playfully; the severity was lost when he was bundled up with a maroon scarf wrapped around his neck three times over, hands and ears covered by dark grey wool. He looked too cute to be malicious.

“If I get burnt, you’ll just have to kiss it better,” Noiz teased, prompting Aoba to elbow him in the side. He laughed and eyed him over the rim of his mug, just barely disguising a growing smirk.

Aoba grumbled and ignored him by taking his own advice—blowing on the hot drink, sending whirls of steam upwards to mix with the gently falling snow. He carefully brought the mulled wine to his lips and sipped, being more careful this time to enjoy its flavor and warmth.

The sweetness of the citrus and wine, mixed with the potency of the spies and alcohol, was at once soothing and energizing. It was delicious, dangerously so, as the only thing stopping him from swallowing down more was its heat.

“This is good,” he said in awe, turning a little to see Noiz’s reaction. “What do you think?”

With a small nod, Noiz brought his mug away from his lips. “It’s sweet.”

“It’s better than regular wine, huh?” Aoba grinned and took another sip. “I’m sure we could make some of this at home… I think I’d want more this Christmas.”

Noiz exhaled softly out his nostrils, a large cloud of air leaving his nose like dragon’s breath. He narrowed his brows in thought.

“What’s wrong?” Aoba asked cautiously.

Noiz came to his senses and shook his head. “Ah, it’s nothing. It’s just… I’ve never really celebrated Christmas properly. It’s… nice.”

Warmth filled Aoba’s chest, and it wasn’t from the alcohol. He had figured that things like this, such large festivities, large celebrations with the ones you love, were new territory for him. He’d never had an opportunity to enjoy the holidays for what they truthfully were meant to be.

And neither had Aoba— he had celebrated Christmas before, but Japan’s celebrations weren’t as grandiose and extravagant. It was more of a romantic holiday, anyway; and before Noiz, he hadn’t been in any serious relationship. This was new to him, too.

So this was their first Christmas. Together.

He wanted to cherish it, to make it as perfect as possible for Noiz.

Suddenly touched, Aoba moved in closer to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek.

“We can make it even better than nice,” he said, gesturing to the array of Christmas decorations splayed out before them. “We can make it _perfect_. Come on.”

Aoba gulped the remaining sips of his wine at once, thanking the winter air for cooling it enough to take it in swigs. He set his mug down on the café’s table and offered out his hand. Noiz followed his lead and finished off the rest of his drink. They left hand-in-hand, wandering towards the glimmering lights and other booths.

They only passed another block or two before Aoba started to feel strange. Walking proved itself more difficult than usual and his head was swimming. He knew that drink was alcoholic, but he didn’t expect himself to get _this_ tipsy this fast.

He stopped walking and tugged on Noiz’s sleeve to get his attention. “… What was that called?”

“[ _Glühwein_](http://www.chowhound.com/recipes/german-mulled-wine-gluhwein-30925). Why?”

“What’s in it?”

“Hmm… wine, cinnamon, oranges…”

“A-Anything else?”

“Brandy.”

A tiny “ _oh_ ” left Aoba’s lips before he even realized it. That’s why it hit him so fast. In the months he had lived in Germany, he had built up more of a tolerance towards alcohol than he had before; he could handle a couple glasses of wine just fine. But liquor hit him fast and hard, getting him drunk in just a matter of minutes.

He laughed wearily and tugged onto Noiz’s coat to get his attention. His face was flushed, too. At the sight, he couldn’t help but giggle.

“O-On second thought, maybe we should go home.”

* * *

 

While Aoba insisted that he was fine enough to walk home, Noiz knew better. He called a cab to take them home safely—and throughout the ride, Aoba realized he really wasn’t set up for walking home. The passing lights and buildings looked like they were dancing in the cab’s reflection.

Neither of them had the strength to fully undress from their winter clothes, either. The most Aoba could manage to do was take off his coat and his winter boots, but his scarf required too many loops for his drunken hands to handle. Noiz seemed to be in a better state than he was, but his movements were still clumsy, too.

They wandered to the couch and sank into it with satisfactory sighs.

“Ah…” Aoba rubbed his face between his hands, inwardly despising how much the room was spinning. He should have sobered up a little bit, if anything.

Before he could move to get comfortable, he felt something warm and heavy set itself in his lap. He slowly opened his eyes to see Noiz curled up on him, using him as a pillow.

With the peaceful look on his face and the drunken flush of his cheeks, he looked… really cute.

“Idiot,” Aoba pouted. “Do I look like a pillow to you?”  He playfully ruffled up his hair.

“Hmm…” Noiz’s eyes wandered to the ceiling in pseudo-thought, turning back towards Aoba with a playful smirk. “Yeah.”   
Aoba closed his eyes and smiled lovingly. “Yeah… okay. Just this once.”

He tried his best to get comfortable without moving Noiz too much; in the end he simply remained where he was, running his hands though Noiz’s hair.

All of a sudden, a massive wave of guilt struck him. He sucked in a breath and winced. He felt pathetic for having to hold back tears, now—he didn’t want to worry Noiz, either.

Noiz untwisted from his spot to look at him. “What’s wrong?”   
“S-Sorry…” He sniffed, using the back of his hand to wipe his eyes. “I wanted to get everything to make Christmas perfect for you. But then… then we got drunk. I’m sorry.”   
“Don’t be sorry,” Noiz said. “The drink was my idea. And as long as you’re here, my Christmas will be perfect.”

“N- _Noiz_ …”

He tried to think of something to say back, but the words became lodged in his throat along with his tears. So instead, he shared his emotions through a long and tender kiss.

As long as he had Noiz with him, his Christmas would be perfect, too.


	27. I'll be there

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for "It’s been a long time since I saw your smile."

He knew being upset wouldn’t solve anything. He knew that he was being ridiculous, silly, stressing himself out just to stress himself out. But Aoba couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t heard Noiz’s voice, let alone seen Noiz’s face, for over two weeks.

Three weeks ago, Noiz’s father suddenly dropped it on him that he was scheduled for a month long trip to America, where he would talk to prospective business partners. Noiz promised to keep in touch, to message and video call as often as possible, but the longer he spent overseas, the less Aoba heard from him.

He couldn’t blame him, not entirely– the time difference was vast, and Noiz was worked down to the bone. When either of them were free to call or talk, the other was asleep. Even when Aoba stayed up into the dark, quiet hours of the morning to call Noiz, he only had the time to spare a minute or two before he would be late to his next meeting. Sure, they sent frequent text messages to one another. But it wasn’t enough.

Aoba felt awful, not only because Noiz was stretching himself out so thin to meet his father’s expectations, but because of the nagging thoughts that haunted him in the deafening silence of their apartment.

It reminded him of that three-month absence years ago. It was under different circumstances then, but Aoba felt that same pang of loneliness, that same uncertainty settling in his chest.

What if Noiz hadn’t been messaging him because he found someone else? Had someone else caught his eye, or was it an act of defiance? No, no… that made no sense.

But…

The sudden pressure of traveling halfway across the globe put Noiz on edge. While they both prepared for his departure, he’d lash out or act cold when he didn’t mean to. Though every time, Noiz caught himself and apologized again and again. Aoba knew he spoke from the bottom of his heart, but he couldn’t help but wonder… had _he_ done something else to upset Noiz? Is that why he hadn’t video chatted with him, or even tried to call?

Worse, Aoba knew he was being illogical, which in part made him feel even guiltier. But silence carries with it fear and doubt. Lonely nights pile up and up, to the point where even the most absurd things seem possible.

He missed Noiz. He missed being able to see Noiz’s smile, to hear his voice, to feel his warmth at his side as he slept. He wanted his physical senses to reassure him that everything was alright.

Just one more week. Then he would see Noiz again.

Then his uncertainties would wash away.

* * *

 

“Are you alright, Aoba?”

“Mmh… I guess so. Just a little nervous.”

Aoba ruffled up Ren’s hair. Truthfully, he was more than just a little nervous. His hands felt clammy and his heart drummed loudly in his ears.

Airports always put him on edge. They were clean, too clean, and large, way too large. The loud murmur of people standing and waiting for their loved ones, just like he was, didn’t help any, either.

He’d been anticipating seeing Noiz for a month now, so why was he so nervous? He’d been doing fine the last couple days— or at least in Aoba’s definition, where ‘fine’ meant “not on the verge of a mental breakdown.” He’d been anxiously counting down the hours to when Noiz would come home. He was doing fine; he was calm… but nervousness struck again.

On his way to the airport, he received a message from Noiz:

> **From** : ♡Noiz-kun♡   
> **Subject** : Home
> 
> _See you soon, hascha_. ♡

So unlike him, especially with the added heart; Noiz always teased him for using way too many emoticons in his texts. Maybe he was just as nervous, and excited, to see Aoba as he was to see him.

He could imagine Noiz in the same state he was in—leg shaking, nervously fidgeting in his seat, staring down at buildings approaching closer and closer, knowing that somewhere in that city, Aoba was there, waiting for him.

Aoba involuntary smiled. He couldn’t wait to see his face again, the soft smile on his lips, the gentle sound of his laugh—

“Aoba, are you really okay? Your pulse has sped up dramatically, but there has been no external force to explain why.”

“I-I’m okay, Ren!” Aoba said, laughing. He pulled Ren out of his bag and held in in front of his face, resting their foreheads together, as they usually did when he needed reassurance. “Like I said… just nervous. And excited.”

“I see. Noiz-san’s flight landed approximately twenty minutes ago. He should arrive at any moment.”

Aoba slumped his shoulders and groaned. “That doesn’t make me feel any better…”

He kept his eyes open, searching from the emerging groups of people for any sign of Noiz. Munich’s airport was so big, either one of them could end up getting lost for hours, walking in circles trying to find the other.

Suddenly Aoba’s Coil rang, and his heart missed a beat from surprise, almost making him drop Ren.

He checked the caller ID with a gasp— _Noiz._

Hastily, with his stomach doing somersaults, Aoba answered the call while tucking Ren back into his bag. “Noiz?”

A voice he hadn’t heard for weeks answered back.

“Where are you, Aoba?” Noiz’s voice was tired, stressed, hoarse in the grainy telephone call.

Aoba. Hearing his name, in Noiz’s low, gentle tone, made the butterflies fluttering about even worse.

“…Aoba?”

“Ah!” Aoba blinked with surprise, not realizing he’d went dead quiet. “I’m near the shops in the middle, next to the entrance.”

“Stay there. I’ll be there soon—”

“W-Wait! Don’t hang up!”

Realization ran over Aoba like a cold stream. Why was he saying this? He didn’t even know, but something in urged him to. He didn’t want to let Noiz go. Not now. Not when he was so close.

He lowered his voice and murmured into the receiver. “I… I want to hear your voice.”

Noiz chuckled. “Wasn’t going to. I want to hear yours, too.” He went quiet for a moment, and Aoba could hear how fast he was walking. “What did you do while I was gone? Were you lonely?”

“I, uh, I practiced my German. Theo says I’m doing well! And I… was. But I knew you were working hard, so… I-I’m excited to see you.”

“Me t—”

Noiz went completely silent again, making Aoba even more nervous.

“H-Hello? Noiz? Is something wrong? What are you…”

He sighed, and turned his gaze up from his Coil for a split second… and his heart beat even faster.

Standing there, a couple feet away, was Noiz, staring at him with a look of shock and awe. He looked _exhausted_ — dark circles, suit jacket wrinkled, hair a mess— but he looked happy. So happy.

Both of them remained frozen in place, too shocked to move, then Aoba’s legs kicked in before the rest of his body. He ran forward, as did Noiz—until they met somewhere in the middle, breathless.

Without skipping a beat, Noiz swept Aoba into his arms and pulled him into a long, deep kiss.

Aoba savored their kiss, traced his tongue over whatever part of Noiz’s mouth he could reach. He didn’t even care about the loud moans he made. He’d dreamed about kissing him like this, hard and gentle, desperate but paced.

After a few moments, which felt like they’d taken an eternity, Noiz broke out of their kiss, licking Aoba’s lower lip with his tongue.

“I’m home,” he whispered, setting Aoba back down on his feet.

Aoba grinned wide and pulled Noiz into a hug. “Welcome home, Noiz.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen your smile.” He leaned in for another kiss. “Did you miss me?”

Aoba snorted, rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious? I missed you the entire time.”

“I missed you, too. Sorry I couldn’t video chat or call. I was so busy. I wanted to, but there was no time…”

Aoba cupped Noiz’s cheeks in his hands to study the dark circles underneath his eyes, rubbing them carefully. “It’s alright, I understand. I hope you have time to relax now, you look awful.”

“I _feel_ awful,” Noiz said with a little laugh. He turned his head to the side, nuzzling his nose against Aoba’s thumb. “But I’m better now that I’m with you.”

He slid a hand down Aoba’s side to his arm, linking their hands together. Noiz felt so _warm_ , and Aoba was so happy to have him at his side again.  
No matter how long they had to wait to see each other, it was a cost they’d willingly pay.

And make up for that lost time tenfold.


	28. Taste of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Aoba share lunch together in a cafe.

Noiz hadn’t told him German would be hard. Well, Aoba learned on his own from the very beginning that it wasn’t going to be easy, but he had no idea it would be so _difficult_.

And after hours spent trying to wrap his head around it, he’d finally had enough. With an aggravated groan, Aoba snapped his book shut and landed face-first into it. “I don’t get it! Why is the chair _der Stuhl_ and why is the cup _die Tasse_ … it makes no sense!”

He felt something nuzzle against his side, nudging him up from his line of defeat.   
“Different objects are either masculine or feminine, or neutral,” chimed in Ren, voice deep, matter-of-fact. “Once you get a hang on that, understanding sentences will become much easier.”

“But that’s the thing, I don’t get it! How are you supposed to know what is what…” Sighing, Aoba lifted his head and opened his _Beginner’s German_ book once more, flipping through the pages, skimming the jumbled lines of German and Japanese.

Everything had become a blur. He’d had such a hard time focusing at home that he decided to spent the rest of the afternoon studying at a coffee shop— one of the hip new ones he’d never been to before. Maybe the change in atmosphere and a cup of coffee would help rejuvenate his spirit and keep him going strong…

Or so he thought.

His productivity had dwindled down to a complete stop; he couldn’t focus when there were so many other things to be doing, like thinking of what to make for dinner, or texting Noiz, or Granny, and the pastries the café had up front looked so good, and the cozy corner he’d chosen was comfortable enough that he could fall asleep without even realizing it. All his odds were stacked against him.

Just then, an idea flashed in the back of his head.

“Hey, Ren,” Aoba said, sitting up a little more to look at the pup sitting on the café table. “Can you set a fifteen-minute timer?”

“Of course.” A small pause. “Why?”

“I’m giving myself a break. Fifteen whole minutes of doing something other than studying, then start again in full force.”

“Understood. I’ll alert you in fifteen minutes.”

Aoba reached over and ruffled up Ren’s hair. He grinned. “Thank you, Ren.”

… Now what to do with himself.

He _could_ check his Coil, but he knew there wouldn’t be too much to do. He could doodle or something, but then he’d get too caught up finishing it to go back to studying. Or he could close his eyes for a little while to give them a break… yeah, that sounded nice.

With a content sigh, Aoba slumped in his seat, using his arms as a makeshift pillow to rest his head. He let his eyes close, let himself lose track of time, and savored the sounds around him— the low conversations of people sitting close, the espresso machine whirring in the distance, the hiss of the rain pouring outside. He breathed in slowly and drank in the smell of coffee, of steaming milk, of freshly baked bread.

This place was so nice… he would have to bring Noiz here someday for lunch. He worked close around here, didn’t he? Maybe they could walk on foot, or make a day out of it, spent wandering about downtown—

Suddenly, he felt something warm on his back, like a hand resting between his shoulders. Both half-confused and half-startled, Aoba snapped awake and turned around, looking to see who in their right mind would have come up to him and tried to wake him from his break.

But everything he was _planning_ to say left him in the blink of an eye.   
It was no stranger, it was—

“Noiz?!” Aoba gasped, eyes lighting up with surprise. “W-What are you doing here?”

“Yo,” said Noiz, the corners of his lips lifting into a smile. His suit and his hair were slightly damp from the rain; small trickles of water fell down his face. He was holding a to-go coffee in one hand, the other still nestled between Aoba’s shoulders.

“I was going to lunch with Theo when I saw you through the window. I told him I was going to have lunch with you instead. Tired?”

“Well, a little, but…”

And like that, Noiz took the empty seat beside Aoba and set the steaming cup in front of him. “Here. For you.”

“Ah… t-thank you…”

He wrapped his hands around the cup, relishing in its warmth before anything else. He brought it to his lips and took a small sip— their coffee here was full bodied and super strong; Aoba was usually the type to drink his coffee black, but here in Germany, a black cup of coffee meant imminent death. Noiz must have known and had added a sugar packet or two for him. _Cute_.

“What a coincidence, huh? I was thinking about how we should go here together,” Aoba said, taking another small sip.

“Mm… I’ve thought the same thing. I’ve been here a few times with Theo. Their sandwiches are good.” Noiz leaned over and rested their shoulders together, sighing contently. “Guess we think alike.”

“Hehe, yeah.”

From behind them, Aoba noticed someone else approaching out of the corner of his eye. A woman carrying a coffee mug and a full plate headed directly towards Noiz, setting his food down. He muttered an appreciative ‘ _Danke’_ and the woman returned to the front of the café.

Curiously, Aoba peered over at what Noiz was eating: some sort of sandwich, chips, and a latte with heavy mounds of whipped cream piled on top and threatening to sink. He scowled.

“Hey, Noiz,” Aoba began, noting the uncanny, worried mother tone in his voice. “Do you always get drinks like that?”

Noiz shrugged and brought his drink to his lips, licking the top tier of cream off. “Why? A latte every once and a while is fine. Besides…” He gestured with a nod to the textbook sitting in front of Aoba. “What are you studying now?”

_Don’t just change the subject like that, you bastard_ , Aoba thought to himself. With a small, defeated sigh, he flipped open his textbook to a bookmarked page, doused in highlighter yellow.

“W-Well—”

“Masculine and feminine nouns,” Ren chimed in before Aoba had a chance. His tail swayed from side to side. “Aoba seems to be having a difficult time comprehending the differences. And good afternoon, Noiz.”

“I-I’m not having a difficult time learning it!” refuted Aoba, feeling his face going red. “It’s just… c-challenging…”

He had to swallow down his embarrassment. He hated admitting his difficulties of the language to Noiz; even if he never mocked him or poked fun at being slow at learning something new, it made him uncomfortable to go up to Noiz and ask him to explain everything he’d been confused with. It felt like he was just a burden.

Noiz sighed softly. “Well, I understand. They confuse even people who have been studying for a long time. It’s only natural.”

That made Aoba feel a little bit better. “R-Really?”

“Mmhm. But if you’re still having trouble, I can give you lessons if you like.” Noiz paused, then started to smirk. “ _Private_ lessons.”

The innuendo wasn’t lost on Aoba. ‘Lessons’ meant _far_ more than just one-on-one sessions in their living room; it meant learning… while in action. In the act.

Mortified by the thought, Aoba held his textbook up to his face, hoping it disguised the redness growing on his cheeks. “Honestly, you… pervert!”

He heard Noiz hum in delight.   
“You say I’m perverted but I haven’t said anything.” Oh, he was definitely having fun with this. “So who’s the pervert exactly…?”

Noiz reached over and gently pulled the book away from Aoba’s face, instead holding it in front of their faces, shielding them from the rest of the café. Just the two of them in the dark corner, away from unsuspecting eyes. Aoba’s stomach churned at what he what going on inside Noiz’s head. To give them privacy, maybe?

Noiz leaned in closer, his smirk growing. “Here, translate this. _Küss mich_.”

The gears in Aoba’s head clanked around uselessly before he pieced together their meaning.   
“That means… ‘kiss me’, doesn’t it?”

Noiz nodded and smiled softly. “See, you’re picking up German fairly quickly. No need to be embarrassed about finding something hard. And now…”

Before Aoba could even pick up on what he was saying, he noticed that Noiz had starting moving in closer and closer, eyes honed in on Aoba’s lips.   
With eyes wide, he set his hands on Noiz’s chest to at least _try_ and save some space between them.

“H-hey, wait, wait, wait! What are you doing!? We’re in a café!” Aoba hissed, bewildered.

Noiz cocked his head, faking confusion. “What do you mean? You just asked me to kiss you.”   
He ignored Aoba’s glare and continued talking. “Plus, it’s repayment.”

“Repayment for… what?”

“Your coffee.”

Aoba gasped and grit his teeth in annoyance. “Y-You…”

Despite his anger, Aoba wasn’t going to let Noiz win this game without a bit of a fight. _He_ wanted the upper hand for once.   
Doing just that, he hastily planted his lips onto Noiz’s, kissing him. He felt Noiz hum against his lips in delight and pushed into their kiss a little harder. A flash of a thought struck Aoba— he didn’t want to just kiss Noiz once and be over with it. If he was being honest with himself, he’d been delighted to catch a taste of Noiz and wanted more.

Experimentally he parted his lips slightly, running his tongue against Noiz’s lower lip. He swore he heard his breath hitch, then sighed in delight as he accepted Aoba’s tongue. He wrapped his tongue around Aoba’s and pushed in further, deepening their kiss.

After a few moments Noiz broke out of the kiss, licking away the traces of spittle left on his lips. He closed Aoba’s textbook and set it down, clearly trying to hide a snarky grin.

“Heh…wasn’t expecting that. You taste good. Bitter.”

Aoba smiled triumphantly, swiped a bit of whipped cream off Noiz’s drink and licked his thumb clean. “And you taste sweet. _Pervert_.”

“But you still haven’t said no to those lessons.”

“… B-Be quiet.”


	29. Mad About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knew Aoba was stubborn, but sometimes, his tenacity still surprised Noiz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for "I'm sorry, who are you?"

Truly, he was amazed that Aoba could keep this up for so long.

They hadn’t fought very often, as most married couples do after the honeymoon bliss wears off; at the most, they had little quarrels that sorted themselves out in a couple hours. In the couple times they had a full-fledged fight, the both of them came to a reconcile within the next few days, warm embraces switched out bitter words of venom.

Noiz knew Aoba was stubborn. He loved that and admired that about him. But at the same time, he felt the blunt end of that force when a disagreement became heated.

Five days. It had been five days now since Noiz had royally screwed up and couldn’t think of a way to make it right. (On the bright side, he kept a mental note to never bring up Granny dying when Aoba was particularly sensitive after an angsty made-for-TV movie. No, not his best timing.)

Aoba refused to speak to him, to give him more than a glance out of the corner of his eye. The most Noiz could coax out of him was one-word replies during dinner. He even returned back to his old bedroom/new guest room, leaving Noiz alone in every sense of the word.   
Waking up in to an empty bed again, for the fifth time in a row, sent another pang to Noiz’s heart.

Besides the fact he hated seeing Aoba mad, he was also scared of this coldness. What if, at any moment, Aoba packed his bags and left a note saying he was going back home? Guilt plagued him, like a sick mossy rope entangled round him. He wanted to make things right, but every time he tried to apologize his stubborn husband wouldn’t listen.

So perhaps the best thing to do was be just as stubborn back. Or maybe fists. He wouldn’t mind a blow to the jaw from Aoba’s knee, he deserved it, anyway.

Noiz wasn’t welcomed by the usual scent of coffee brewing or bacon cooking on the stove. Instead their apartment was deathly still like a photograph, never moving, eerily quiet.

Then, humming— soft and distant, but a definite sign that Aoba was still here. And enjoying himself. Noiz followed the sound down the hallway, towards the laundry room, door half-open. Aoba was sorting through their clothes, singing along to the melody in his head. At any other time, Noiz would probably film a short video of this, or walk up behind Aoba and wrap him in a hug, or kiss the nape of his neck. But instead he was an outsider looking in.

“Good morning,” Noiz murmured, testing the waters before diving in headfirst.

Aoba turned around momentarily, and Noiz swore he saw a faint glimmer of joy, crushed out by his own doing, eyes narrowing.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Aoba asked, and Noiz almost had to laugh. At least Aoba didn’t lose his sense of humor when he was stone cold.

With a small huff, he turned back around, loading laundry— _Noiz’s_ laundry— into their washing machine. _Would any person who’s completely pissed off with someone still wash their dirty socks and underwear? Or was Aoba just bad at being angry?_

Not knowing whether to leave or to stay, Noiz lingered in the threshold of the doorway as Aoba worked, paying him hardly any attention.   
The tiny hope that he’d finally gotten something out of Aoba died away, and he’d resigned to another day of silence— when Aoba turned around once more with hands on his hips, looking up at Noiz directly.

This was the first time Noiz got a proper look at Aoba’s face. He looked like he was hurting as much as Noiz was. A sadness lingered in his expression that Noiz never wanted to see in his face again— a sullen guilt that he couldn’t shake off. The same that Noiz felt.

Their eyes met for a brief moment, then Aoba glanced away. The awkward fog grew heavier and heavier.

Aoba closed his eyes and sighed.

“Hey, Noiz—” The first time Aoba had said his name in days. It almost sounded like music. “I… can’t. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Another nervous pang. _Don’t want to do what_? Fighting? Living together? Noiz wanted to open his mouth to speak, but Aoba continued.

“I know I’ve been rude lately, being out of line and not talking to you. I just… got mad, you know? And I know you weren’t trying to make me mad, but I over-reacted and… and not talking to you was really silly, I know, but…”

Aoba stopped to take a deep breath. All that time spent in mute martyrdom made his words come rushing out all at once.

“I’m… sorry. I’m really sorry, Noiz. I shouldn’t have been such a jerk, or made you feel bad over nothing. Thinking about Granny dying just really scares me, you know… I shouldn’t have taken it out on you… o-or be so extreme about it, hah…”   
He glanced upwards, catching Noiz’s gaze.

“Will you forgive me?”

Noiz’s heart pounded heavily in his chest. He smiled softly.

“Well, of course,” he began, moving in closer to Aoba. “I’m sorry, too. I should have been more understanding. Do you forgive me?”

Aoba returned the smile with a small laugh. “I already did, a couple days ago. I just didn’t want to give up. Silly, I know…” He stepped forward, arms wrapping around Noiz’s neck. In return, he set his hands on Aoba’s hips, savoring Aoba’s warmth underneath his palms.

“I missed you,” Aoba said, quieter this time, more like speaking to himself. He leaned up into a chaste kiss, pushing in deeper and deeper until they were one, sharing breath in between them.

Noiz broke away and ran his tongue over Aoba’s cheek—salty, like tears. He must have been crying earlier, when  he was certain he was alone. And that hurt even more.

“I love you,” murmured Noiz, taking Aoba’s face between his hands to kiss underneath his eyes. “I don’t want to make you upset. I’m sorry.”

He paused.

“You can punch me if you like. Or kick. Whichever makes you feel better.”

Aoba pushed out of their embrace, cocking his head. “H-Huh? W-What are you talking about?”

“Fair’s fair. If you want.”

“N-No!” Aoba said, laughing weakly. “I’m not going to punch you, that’s not fair… but, I could bite you. If you want.” He remained still for a moment or three before a flirty grin passed over his lips.

“I can bite you, too. Should I?” Noiz smirked, arched his eyebrows in amusement.

“Not now, I’m doing laundry!” He laughed again, harder this time, with a grin that actually radiated across his entire face. “But maybe later. I mean, there’s some lost time to make up for. And, ah, that reminds me: what do you want for breakfast? I was still doing the whole ‘mad-at-you’ thing so I didn’t plan anything, but if you like— _mmh_!”

Noiz cut him off by pulling him deep into another kiss, deep but loving.

Nothing mattered more in that moment than the two of them, wanting and loving each other so much, wanting to relay their love and their apologies and their reconciliation again and again and again. Nothing else mattered in the world.


	30. Out in the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh the weather outside is frightful, but sharing a scarf is so delightful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for "are you shivering?"

“Whoa!”

The second Aoba stepped out of their apartment complex, he paused. He stared in awe up at the sky, mouth agape as he took in the sight before him.

“It’s snowing!”

Small, intricate snowflakes fell gently to the ground. Snowy powder flecked across the sidewalks and cars, slowly accumulating by the minute. The trees on the opposite side of the street had already amounted a hefty mound of snow, the bare limbs completely covered in white.

Noiz walked out behind him, stopping a few steps in front of his boyfriend. He stared up at the grey sky, the rays of light catching against falling snow and glittering.  
The weather forecast had not predicted a sudden snowstorm, nor one of this magnitude. The softly falling flakes were just a prelude to the heavy snow that would soon come— and make their trip to the market troublesome if it worsened quickly enough.

“It’s not that interesting,” Noiz sighed, extending his hand out to catch falling flakes. Despite his words, he had to admit that when it was falling, snow was quite beautiful. “It’s going to snow a lot more than this.”

“But I’ve never seen it before!” Aoba interjected, hurrying up after him. “It hardly ever snows in Midorijima, so it’s interesting to me.”  
“Ah, yeah. That’s true…”

Noiz had never considered snow to be something special, or winter in general. When he was a child, he never felt the nip of the cold when he went outside, or knew the joy of warming up when he came back inside. He’d never had the chance to know what it was like to wait for snow, to wake up excited for the first snowfall, welcoming in the holiday season.

But neither had Aoba. He’d never had the chance to see snow in person.  
So the snow was more than just that. It was an important first— for the both of them.

“In that case, do you like it? The snow.” Noiz started walking, Aoba following close behind.

“Hmm… I’m not sure yet. It’s pretty, but it’s really cold.” He paused, watching the snow accumulate. “How bad is the snow supposed to get?”  

“Not sure. But we’ll probably be stuck inside for the rest of the day, so we better hurry.”  
“Being stuck inside isn’t a problem,” Aoba said, smiling as he turned his head up towards the sky again. “We can watch the snow, make cocoa, and a bunch of other stuff.”

“I can think of a couple ways we can keep each other warm,” Noiz teased, a smirk creeping its way into his voice.  
Aoba elbowed him in the side, eyes narrowing in a glare; Noiz simply chuckled.

The further they walked, the more the storm gradually worsened. The snowflakes started growing in size, until big clumps fell instead of individual flakes. Aoba watched on in amazement, admiring how they cascaded gently, carried by the wind as though they were lighter than air.

“Hmm… I wonder…” After a quick moment of deliberation, he stuck his tongue out, letting several snowflakes land on the surface before closing his mouth.

“… What are you doing?” Noiz had been watching him, humored.  
“I thought it would be cold but it doesn’t feel like anything!” Aoba laughed.  
“Really?”

Trying it out for himself, Noiz stuck out his tongue, letting a snowflake land on it. It melted immediately, leaving nothing but the faintest tinge of cold on his tongue. He turned to smile at Aoba.  
“You’re right, it doesn’t feel like anything… ah.”

Before he realized it himself, he’d gotten lost staring. A couple snowflakes caught on Aoba’s long lashes, remaining there no matter how many times Aoba batted his eyes.

He looked beautiful.

All at once, Noiz became overwhelmed with a resurgence of emotions– his heart welling in his chest, breath tight in his throat, a million thoughts racing through his head, all of them about Aoba.  
He never took the opportunity Aoba had given him for granted. He’d never thought himself worthy enough for Aoba’s love. But he was so thankful that Aoba wanted to be here with him.  

As much as Aoba had opened up his world, Noiz had opened up Aoba’s world, too. Every day, every hour, every moment—he was thankful for that opportunity, to discover the world together, to share new experiences neither of them had ever known.

Aoba had apparently caught him staring, too. He scrunched his brows together, avoiding eye contact by looking anywhere rather than up at Noiz’s face.

“W-What?” he muttered, burying his nose deeper into the collar of his jacket. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Noiz blinked a couple times, then offered a sheepish smile. “Nothing.”

The storm had started getting worse, and a sudden gust of wind threatened to push them forward, to separate them. He reached out for Aoba’s hand, slipping it inside his own.

“Come on, let’s get going.”

* * *

 

By the time they left the store, the snowstorm had reached its peak. Snow flurried heavily, blanketing the street in white. Snow had already gone halfway up to their ankles, and showed no sign of stopping.

Noiz suggested that they go to the station, to catch a train back to their apartment. But Aoba refused—he wanted to enjoy the storm in full. Besides, he said, it could have been worse.

However, Noiz noticed something was off— occasionally, Aoba’s teeth clacking together, and hugged his arms tighter around himself. It _was_ cold, Noiz had to admit, but it wasn’t anything severe enough to warrant shivering.

He tightened his grip on Aoba’s hand to get his attention. He glanced up at him, confused.  
“What?”  
“Are you shivering?”

Aoba shook his head, pulling his coat a little tighter around himself. “I’m fine, I’m fine! I just… forgot to grab a scarf.”  
“Ah… do you want mine?”  
Aoba shook his head. “No, I’ll be alri—h-hey…”

Before Aoba could say another word or protest, Noiz had already pulled his scarf free from his coat and started working at undoing the loops round his neck. He stepped in front of Aoba, draped it over Aoba’s shoulders.

“Is that better?” he asked while tightening it around his neck, focusing on covering every bare inch of skin. The scarf was quite long, and required several loops around his slender neck just to sit there without draping uncomfortably.

Aoba turned his gaze to the side, frowning. “It’s nice, but… then you’ll be the one that’s cold….”

Once Noiz finished wrapping him up, he stepped back a little and admired how he looked— burgundy suited Aoba well, the red complimented his hair and his skin… and highlighted the blush dusted across his cheeks.

“Not a problem,” he said, stealing a quick kiss. “I’m fine as long as you’re warm. It looks nice on you.”

Aoba eyes went widened and his cheeks grew redder. He jutted his lips in a pout, features painted over with concern.

“But that’s not fair to you. You shouldn’t have to be cold for me.” Suddenly his eyes lit up; a small smile grew on the corners of his lips. “I’ve got an idea!”

Noiz arched his brows, asking his question with a gesture alone.  
He tried imagining what could have been rolling around in Aoba’s head— something like taking turns wearing his scarf, for different intervals of time.  
Or, better yet, maybe he was thinking they could wear it together.

As much as the second idea enticed him, Noiz figured that Aoba wouldn’t be one for such obvious displays of affection—

But Aoba surprised him. He always did.

As he approached Noiz, Aoba started unwinding the scarf wrapped round his neck. He wound the bulk of fabric loosely around Noiz’s neck, dividing it equally between them. Helpless but to stand close to Noiz’s side, Aoba tilted his head and smiled.

“How about this? This way, we can share.”

Noiz hesitated for the briefest moment, then returned the smile. He snaked an arm around Aoba’s waist, pulling him in closer to his side. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head, hoping it expressed the boundless joy and love welling up within him.

“This is nice. And we get to walk like this, side by side. Do you like that?”  
“… Mhm.” Aoba muttered under his breath, ducking his chin within the scarf’s folds. Darker red flushed over the tips of his ears, creeping all the way down his face.

Noiz chuckled under his breath. _He’s cute when he embarrasses himself_ , he thought. He tightened his grip around Aoba’s waist, pressing his lips against the top of his head.

Slowly, Noiz hardly felt the cold. Rather, he felt that it was there but he cared about it less. When he had Aoba close beside him, as they shared warmth in between them, there was no need to concern himself about the snow, the cold, how they wouldn’t make it back from the store before the storm picked up.  
He simply enjoyed himself in the moment.


End file.
